It’s time for our annual Thanksgiving Food Drive! In partnership with the Beta Club at St. 
George School, we are collecting donations of food for Christian Assistance Ministries and the San Antonio Food Bank. Donations can be dropped off at the collection table in the Narthex beginning on Sunday, November 6th through Sunday, November 20.
Here are some suggestions for items to donate:
· nine bean soup mix or pinto beans
· cornbread dressing mix
· chicken broth or bouillon cubes
· canned sweet potatoes
· canned pumpkin
· canned green beans
· canned cranberry sauce
· canned mixed vegetables
· canned corn
· canned fruit
· evaporated or condensed milk
· cereal, particularly oatmeal
We’ll choose a Sunday between services to box the food collected for CAM along with donated turkeys to create full Thanksgiving dinners for the clients at CAM. Stay tuned for more details! Any extra food items will be taken to CAM for distribution through their food pantry. Please call the office or email stgeorge@saintgeorgechurch.org with any questions.
Bishop David Reed will be with us for this month’s First Wednesday Worship, November 2nd at 6:00 PM in All Souls’ Chapel, located on the second floor of the Leadership Center. Bishop Reed will dedicate All Souls’ Chapel, the chapel altar, and the altar vestment.
In addition, special prayers will be offered as we read the list of all those we love but see no longer. Please remember that tables have been set up in All Souls’ Chapel for you to place one item (picture, memento, etc) that represents your deceased beloved.
Our Time and Talent form is available online and is an way for you to see the many ways we all can offer our time and talents here at St. George. Please click on the text below to be directed to the form. Thank you!
TIME AND TALENT OPPORTUNITIES FORM
To be directed to an online version of our Promise Plan, please click on the text below.
ONLINE PROMISE PLAN
Dear St. George Family,
Yesterday, I received some news from Rob Devlin. While in in Waco attending their son’s state cross-country meet, Lynne was taken by ambulance to a local hospital with stroke symptoms. Doctors verified after arrival that she indeed had a stroke.
She is receiving ongoing treatment. Doctors are optimistic about her prognosis. They have run tests and the results should come back to them sometime today. It is too early to know any specifics about her condition or her future rehabilitation. It is fair to say that she will be hospitalized a few days in Waco before plans can be made to get her transferred to San Antonio.
I invite you to pray for Lynne’s healing and for peace for Rob, Taylor, Lauren and Robby.
For now, I would ask you to refer all questions to my office (email would be most efficient – rlopez@saintgeorgechurch.org).
Thank you for the prayers that some of you have already begun. I can assure you that Lynne, Rob and their children can feel them.
Ram+
This Sunday, as members of the St. George family come together for our Celebration Day and Stewardship Ingathering, we will be electing the new St. George Vestry members and Council Delegates for 2017. All members of the St. George family over 16 years of age are able to participate in the election.
We have four nominees for the vestry, and need to fill four open positions. Elected persons will serve for a three-year term. Thank you to Laura Kelly, Elizabeth Rock, Therese Trahan-Edussuriya, and Susan Alwais (elected to fill an unexpired term) for their service on the St. George Vestry.
Steve and Susan Alwais are our nominees for Council Delegates. The complete delegation will be announced in future eSpear newsletters and here on the Blog.
Thank you to all who have agreed to serve!
Vestry Nominees
I included an excerpt from our nominee’s vestry application so you would have a chance to get to know them a little bit better if you haven’t already had the pleasure of meeting them.
Susan Alwais
It has been 4 years since I served on the Vestry. God is calling me to serve Him as a leader in our Parish at this time. With the relationships that I have built with both the church and the school, I feel called to continue the momentum of strengthening the Community that is St. George.
Dr. Lindsey Finklea
At an early age, I identified in myself a need to help others—I am a doer. Yes, I pray, attend church, tithe, etc. –but at heart, I feel closeness with God when I act. I have the distinct privilege of being able to help those less fortunate on a daily basis as a physician. There are many patients that are disgruntled, derogatory, and often unappreciative, but I ‘see the Jesus in them, ‘ and treat them as best I can. I am humbled that God has given me the ability to serve in this way and in my daily life.
Barry Marks
I try each day to, in each moment of my average life, make sure I’m doing what I’m doing in his light. I believe that’s the trick; to stay engaged with God in all I am and all I do.
Alyssa Rogers
I am a member of the Order of the Daughters of the King where our primary mission is to have an active prayer life and pray for our church and community. I am also involved in a Small Group at St. George where we discuss scripture and how it relates to us in the season of life that we are in. I really enjoy getting to dive into the scripture and have real discussions with other parish members who are “in the same boat” as we are. I am also part of the Music Ministry at St. George and serve as a section leader in the choir. Singing is my passion and getting to share that gift with those in the choir and in the congregation brings me so much joy. I am so thankful to be a part of the community of St. George and to call it my church home.
Join your friends at St. George as we offer to God our Promise Plans and then celebrate our life together with “A Picnic on the Green” after the second service! Mr. Meximum Food Truck will be onsite for those who wish to purchase lunch. We’ll have games for the children and fellowship for the adults! Children are encouraged to wear their non-scary Halloween costumes if they’d like to do so!
Everyone is invited to mark the feast day for All Faithful Departed (also called “All Souls’ Day) by attending a special Eucharist on Wednesday, November 2 at 6 pm. The service will be held in All Souls’ Chapel (second floor of the Leadership Center).
The Rt. Reverend David M. Reed, Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese, will be present to celebrate the Eucharist and bless our altar and the space that is All Souls’ Chapel.
If you would like to honor a loved one who has entered the nearer Presence of Christ, you are invited to bring one item (for instance a framed photo or an old Bible, etc) of a loved one. We will have tables in All Souls’ Chapel where those will be displayed from Sunday, October 30th to November 2nd and prayers will be offered for those represented on the tables during our liturgy that evening. Items may be dropped off at the Leadership Center anytime during the week of October 24-28 during our regular office hours of 8 am to 4 pm or brought on Wednesday, November 2.
The Feast of All Saints is one of the major feast days in the life of the Church. On this day we baptize new “saints,” remember the mothers and fathers of our faith throughout the ages (“cloud of witnesses”) and also offer prayers for those whose lives and faith have shaped us. We will have an All Saints’ Day Eucharist at 6:00 PM on Wednesday, November 2nd, and will have baptisms on Sunday, November 6th.
One of our customs at St. George is to read the necrology (a list of those who have died) of members of St. George who have died since last All Saints’ Day. We also offer the opportunity to have prayers at the altar for all those in our lives we wish to remember.
If you would like to recognize a loved one who has gone into the nearer presence of God, please email the name to Fr. Ram (rlopez@saintgeorgechurch.org) by Monday, October 31st. If your loved one was a member of the St. George and died since last All Saints’ Day, we will already have that name. If you would like to make sure, please email Marilynne Herbster (mherbster@saintgeorgechurch.org).
