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Dear Members and Friends,

Grace and peace to you in the name of the One who has blessed us and gifted us with everlasting love; and in thename of the One to whom we give our thanks and praise, in good times, and also in times of crisis, in the wake of disasters — natural, and human-made.

As the calendar turns to November, our thoughts turn to thanksgiving. And the month will be filled with opportunities to do so! On All Saints Sunday, November 4th, we will lift up those who, in the past year, have joined that great cloud of witnesses that surround us. On Sunday, November 11, we will give thanks for our

veterans.

On Saturday, November 10, we will open the doors of our fellowship hall to the community for our annual Holiday Bazaar, and we give thanks for the many hands that make such a fun event possible. On that same day, we will have the opportunity to benefit from the blessings of our United Methodist connection at the Mountain View District Training Day at Avoca UMC. Training in the following topics will be available: Board of Trustee roles and responsibilities, Staff-Parish Relations Committee roles and responsibilities, Worship Planning, Church

Finance and Giving, Missions Work at the local church and Conference levels, and Intentional Disciple-Making Systems. If you are interested in attending, please contact me for registration information.

On Saturday, November 17, our church will be the site of a District/Regional Youth Event, where we will welcome youth and advisors from churches in our district and surrounding districts for a day of fellowship and fun. Please be watching for information on how help will be needed to prepare for this exciting event.

Throughout the month of November, through these very special events, and especially in our Sunday worship celebrations, we will give thanks to God for God’s amazing “Gifts of Love.” We will have the opportunity to explore the love to which we are called in “The Greatest Commandment,” and look once again at “The Greatest Gift” of the widow from Mark’s gospel. We will celebrate “A Community of Love” on Commitment Sunday (see related article in this newsletter), and on Christ the King Sunday, we will lift up “The King of Love.” And just like that, we’ll find ourselves at the tuming of the church year, as Advent begins on Sunday, December 2!!

In this month, as “We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessings. . .”, let us lift our voices in praise and thanksgiving that God is with us in each season and in all circumstances. God indeed “. . .forgets not his own”and we truly are all God’s own children. Happy Thanks-giving and Happy Thanks-living!