TODAY we celebrate the first communion of Luke and Miranda MacDonald at the 10:15 service. We pray that they and all members may be faithful in regularly partaking of this sacrament which provides us with the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith.
YOUTH GROUP meets tonight at 6:30.
A THANKSGIVING SERVICE will be held at 7:00 p.m. this Wednesday to praise our God for His numerous blessings. Please join us.
CALLING ALL CHILDREN AND YOUTH! Christmas is coming and we will once again present the Christmas pageant at the Christmas Eve service. If your child is interested in being a part of this wonderful and heartwarming pageant, please sign the sheet on the bulletin board in the narthex and plan to attend all rehearsals. Rehearsals will be today and December 8, 15 and 22, immediately following the 10:15 service and will last approximately half an hour. (Please note that there is no rehearsal on December 1 due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.) If there are any questions, please contact Janine Steinbrunner at janinesteinb@yahoo.com or 338-2660. Thank you.
ADVENT BEGINS next Sunday. Advent helps us prepare to receive the promised Christ as He comes, whether at his lowly birth in history, his continual and wonderful coming to us in his Word and Sacrament, or his triumphal coming at the Last Day.
ONE YEAR BIBLE STUDY meets next Sunday at 9:15 a.m.
PRAYER NIGHT will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 5. We will discuss our prayer lives, offer prayers for the Church, and discuss important Christian topics for the month.
A SAINT NICHOLAS PARTY will be held on Sunday, December 8, at 3:00 p.m. We will learn about the Jesse Tree, decorate some cookies, and may even have a visit from Saint Nicholas himself. Please see the signup sheet on the bulletin board in the narthex. If you have any questions about the party speak to Janine Steinbrunner or Cindy Spice
LUNCH BUNCH meets on Tuesday, December 10, to visit the Botanical Gardens, 1100 South Calhoun St., Fort Wayne. A car pool will leave the church at 11:00 a.m. sharp. If you drive directly, you may park in the City Center Garage and get your parking ticket stamped at the Gardens. We will tour the Gardens ($5 fee) and then eat at the Bagel Station inside. Please sign the poster in the narthex. If you need to cancel your reservation, contact Anita at 348-1170 or 341-4057.
ALTAR GUILD members, please mark your calendars for a cleaning meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 14. Many hands will make light work.
4th ANNUAL YOUTH PLAY & DINNER Join us for a wonderful evening of food and entertainment on Sunday, December 22, at 5:00 p.m. Help us explore winter wonderland winds in the wacky Cricket County Blizzard. Dinner will be prepared and served by our youth and then you will be able to sit back and laugh with us as we enter Cricket County on Christmas Eve. Tickets will go on sale next Sunday in between the services and after the 10:15 service. We will continue to sell tickets every Sunday until the day of the play. The cost for adults is $8.00, kids 4-12, $4.00 and kids 3 and under are free. 100% of the proceeds go to our youth. Please remember to purchase your tickets and mark your calendars for this event. If you have any questions or would like to help out in some way, contact Cindy Spice at 348-7061.
FOOD BASKETS Christmas will be here before we know it. The trees have lighted up the front doors of the church with items needed for our six Christmas baskets. Please pick one or two tags and bring the item and the tag to church by Sunday, December 8. Please treat the tags gently so they can be used again next year. Refrigerated items go in the refrigerator in the boiler room and frozen items go in the chest freezer in the Food Bank. How blessed we are that we can share with those in need.
CURRENT FOOD BANK NEEDS: pancake mix, syrup, juice, crackers, canned fruit, gelatin, pudding and beef stew.
DO YOU HAVE A THANKSGIVING TAG that was not returned? If so, please return it for reuse next year.
THE GIVING TREE is up in the narthex. Three families have been adopted this year. One family consists of a father and mother with a ten month old girl. Another family is a single mother with children ages 13, 10, 6 and 1. A military family has children ages 7, 4, 3, 2 and 7 month old twins. Please be sure to register your gift selection with a Daughter at a nearby table, where the ornament will be exchanged for a gift tag which you will attach to your gift. All gifts should be new and wrapped in Christmas paper. A basket of labels, from which you may choose food and hygiene items needed by the families, will also be available at the table. You do not have to wrap these items, just place them in the laundry basket with the family number, located by the tree. All gifts, food and hygiene items are due at the church by Sunday, December 8. Thank you for your assistance with this project.
A FEW OFFERING ENVELOPES for 2014 are available in the narthex for all members (pledging and non-pledging) and for non-members who have made identifiable contributions this year. If you have not picked yours up, please do so today. Contributions are tracked according to envelope numbers, not names. Using your envelopes is a great help to the counters and data input operators.
OPEN DATES for Sanctuary Candles are December 1 and 29.
ATTENDANCE last Sunday was 81.
Please remember in prayer: Nancy Ashley, Jack Boyd, Kathy Bromley, Dick Camp, Andrew Davis, John & Phyllis Diver, Bob Edington, Alexa Foland, Denise Frede, Nick Frede, Micaela Fulk, Tammy Gongerware, Norm Grams, Jeanne Hahn, Larry Link, Pat MacWhorter, Reggie McMahan, Carol Newell, Leslie Peters, Sandra Rademaker, John Renner, Emerson Ruff, Branyan & Esmeralda Sanxter, Cindy Spice, Rick Spice, Bill Townsend, Jen Will
Military: Jeremy Faux, Derek Palmer, Kaylee Sumner, Ty Sumner
St. Alban's Episcopal Church 