TONIGHT…
Revelations Study Group, starts tonight at 7pm: All are cordially invited to a study of Revelation beginning this Thursday, October 26 at St. Dunstan’s after Sandbox, 7-8:30 PM. We’ll meet for five weeks (skipping Thanksgiving week), focusing this week on Rev 1-3. Some copies of Revelation in manuscript format are available in the Gathering Area; there’s also a signup sheet so we’ll know how many additional copies to print. Each week there will be some historical orientation, but we’ll mostly focus on trying to hear the text together today. Fr. Tom McAlpine will facilitate.
THIS WEEK…
Ladies’ Night Out, Friday, October 27, 6pm: Come join us for good food and good conversation among women of all ages from St. Dunstan’s. This month we will meet at Pasqual’s Cantina, 702 N. Midvale Blvd. in the Hilldale Shopping Center. For more information, please contact Kathy Whitt or Debra Martinez.
Capital Campaign Forum: “How We Got Here,” 9am, Sunday, October 29: Maybe you’re new to the parish, maybe you’ve been waiting to tune in until it seemed like something might actually happen, maybe you just need your memory refreshed about how and why we came to be talking about a possible capital campaign at St. Dunstan’s. Come at 9am next Sunday for a refresher on our process and progress so far, from 2015 to the present! And bring any questions you may have for the Capital Campaign Discernment Steering Committee. (Reminder: Plans and options for the campaign will be presented to the parish on Sunday, December 3.)
Last Sunday All-Ages Worship, Sunday, October 29, 10am: Our last Sunday worship is intended especially to help kids (and grownups who are new to our pattern of worship) to engage and participate fully. NOTE: Our 8am service always follows our regular order of worship.
Naming our Saints: In anticipation of All Saints Day, please fill out one or more Saint Slips, available in the Gathering Area. Tell us about a saint, well-known or known only to you, whom you remember with love.
Helpers Wanted for our Pie Brunch (November 19)! We’ll celebrate the conclusion of our fall Giving Campaign with a potluck pie brunch at 9am, between our two Sunday services. This is always delicious and fun! This year we are looking for a few new helpers who can assist with decorating, set-up and clean-up. If you’d like to help, sign up in the Gathering Area or contact Laura Bloomenkranz.
Coffee Hosts Needed for November: Please consider being a coffee host and talk with Janet Bybee for more information.
THE WEEKS AHEAD…
Revelation Study Group, Thursday, November 2: “To whom does the earth belong? Who is the ruler of this world?” Fiorenza thinks that’s the question that drove the production of Revelation, and it’s certainly front and center in chapters 4-7. All are cordially invited to the study of Revelation this Thursday at St. Dunstan’s after Sandbox, 7-8:30 PM. This week focuses on Rev 4-7. Extra copies of the book in manuscript format will be available. There will be some historical orientation, but we’ll mostly focus on trying to hear the text together today. Fr. Tom McAlpine is facilitating.
All Saints’ Day, Sunday, Nov. 5: We will celebrate this holy day with an opportunity to remember the faithful departed; renewal of our baptismal vows; and, at our 10am service, a kids’ saint procession.
Remembrance Station: Consider bringing in a token of one of those saints whom you remember with love and respect, as an extension of our All Saints commemorations. Our Remembrance Station this year will include a place to hang pictures or notes, and a table where you may place a photo or other memento. Please don’t bring in anything precious or irreplaceable. On Sunday, November 26, we will commend these faithful departed to Christ our King.=
Birthday and Anniversary blessings and Healing Prayers will be given next Sunday, November 5, as is our custom on the first Sunday of the month.
MOM Special Offering, Sunday, November 5: Next Sunday, half the cash in our offering plate and any designated checks will be given to Middleton Outreach Ministry’s food pantry. Here are the current top-ten, most needed items: toilet paper; heart healthy cooking oil; canned chicken; ketchup and mayonnaise; baking soda & powder, salt & vanilla; boxed meals; cake, brownie & muffin mixes; toothbrush, paste, & floss; laundry detergent; size 4, 5 & 6 diapers. Thank you for your generous support!
Falk Friends Pantry Prep, Sunday, November 5, 11:30am: Our partner school, Falk Elementary School on the southwest side of Madison, now has its own food pantry which is serving families well! However, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items are still in need, as in most pantries. This year we’ll partner with Falk by providing toilet paper, feminine hygiene items, detergent, and other similar items for their pantry. Helpers of all ages are welcome to help pack our Falk Friends Pantry bags after the 10am liturgy!
Evening Eucharist, Sunday, November 5, 6pm: Join us for a simple service as the week begins. All are welcome.
Madison-Area Julian Gathering, Wednesday, November 8, 1:00 – 2:45pm: St. Julian of Norwich: 14th Century feminist? 14th Century heretic? No, although a reader might at first think so. 14th Century psychologist? Sort of . . . she understood the human heart and, through her sixteen revelations of Jesus, she understood the heart of God. Thomas Merton called her “the greatest theologian for our time.” Come to one of our monthly meetings and find out why — and learn about contemplative prayer. We meet the second Wednesday of each month. We’d love to see you. For more information, contact Susan Fiore.
Black Friday Craft-In: VOLUNTEERS WANTED, Friday, November 24, 1 – 4pm: This year we’ll hold our fourth annual Black Friday Craft-In, a free public crafting event. We can use all kinds of volunteers – whether your skill is sewing, woodworking, stamping, papercrafting, helping little kids with simple crafts, smiling at people and saying “Welcome!”, setting up tables, or putting cookies on plates. If you’d like to plan and set up a craft station of your own, let Rev. Miranda know, and we have some Michael’s gift cards available to help you cover materials expenses. A new hope this year is to help kids make teacher gifts – your ideas needed! Sign up in the Gathering Area to help out, or email Rev. Miranda at .
Men’s Book Club, Saturday, November 11, 10am-12pm: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, first published in America in January 1885, has always been in trouble. It was condemned by many reviewers in Mark Twain’s time as coarse and by many commentators in our time as racist. But, according to Ernest Hemingway, it was the “one book” from which “all modern American Literature” came, and contemporary critics and scholars have treated it as one of the greatest American works of art.
Attending to Scripture in the Anthropocene, 9am, Nov. 12 & 26: “Anthropocene” – have you heard this word? In Nature, a top-ranked scientific journal, earth scientist Clive Hamilton writes: “[It arises]…from the new discipline of Earth-system science. Earth-system science takes an integrated approach, so that climate change affects the functioning of not just the atmosphere, but also the hydrosphere, the cryosphere, the biosphere and even the lithosphere…. [the] human imprint on the global environment has now become so large and active that it rivals some of the great forces of Nature in its impact on the functioning of the Earth system.” Between services in November, Biblical storyteller Pamela Grenfell Smith invites you to listen and reflect on some key Biblical stories with her as people of the Anthropocene Age. What happens when we pay careful attention? How do they sound to us now?
What Does Racism Look Like, and What Can We Do About It? Saturday, November 18, 10 – 11:30am, at St. Dunstan’s: Eliot Smith is a cognitive scientist who studies and teaches about prejudice and stereotyping. He’ll help us understand what racism is from the perspective of social science, and how we can begin the work of change. All are welcome!
Capital Campaign Possibilities: Parish Presentation, Sunday, December 3, 9am: At this meeting, the Capital Campaign Discernment Steering Committee, along with our consultant and our architect, will present the ideas we’ve been developing in response to the hopes and needs that the parish has named over the past many months. This presentation – and your responses – will help us decide whether to move forward to the Study phase of the capital campaign. Please plan to attend! NOTE: The 10am liturgy will begin at 10:30 that morning in order to allow sufficient time for our presentation and discussion. If you can’t attend that day, look for materials to come out by email, on our church website, and by snail mail to those who prefer information by that route.