The Open Door

What Will Be Your Mustard Seed?
After talking about the mustard seed, the yeast in the dough, after educating folks on their giving numbers and on all the mission that our church supports, this Sunday will be the moment when we make our promises, to ourselves and to God, about what we will give and do in 2026 to promote the kingdom of God in this place.  You should have gotten a pledge form by email a few weeks ago.  But if you missed that email, the same forms will be in the pews this Sunday, along with envelopes for them.  Our hope is that you will take a moment before or during the service to fill out the form, making sure your name and preferably your giving number is on it, and place it  in the offering plate.  If you need more time, feel free to take the form home and mail or bring it in later this week.  

No one will be reading these forms.  We will hold on to them, only to remind you of your commitments once or twice in the coming year, when we send out giving statements.  This is a conversation each of us has to have with our conscience, our checkbook, and our God.  Neither I nor your stewardship committee has any desire to tell you what to give or how.  What we are doing in these weeks of stewardship focus is simply to encourage consideration of what each of us is called to give and to do.

We all want to give prayerfully and intentionally, to put our Christian commitment into real, practical terms.  The more each of us is able to give with commitment and intention, the stronger we are as a community of faith and the clearer is the word we preach to the world.  

As always, I am proud to be part of what we are doing in this place, and to be your pastor,

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Who will you be remembering this Christmas?  
The Path of Peace is a lovely way to honor the people we miss and the people in our family, friends and community for whom we’re grateful.  Begun in 2020, this magical path is made up of luminaries, each one given in honor or in memory of a loved one or of a group of people we are grateful for.  Add a light to the path by filling out the cream-colored cards available in the narthex or the office, and donating $7 per luminary, or three for $20.  Remind your neighbors, or even friends from out of town, as many non-Presbyterians participate every year.  The Path will be lit from December 21-28th this year, so be sure you pass by after sunset sometime that week.  As always, we thank Dottie Rogers for bring us this idea!

In addition to adding your own lights here are a few other ways you can help make the path happen:

1. Come and help set it up.  After church on Dec 21st, we will be putting lights in jars, turning them on, and arranging the path.  This is joyful work!  Come be a part of it.  

2. Be a lightkeeper!  If you are going to be in town for at least a day or two between Dec 21 and 28th, take responsibility for checking on the lights—replacing any that have gone dim or broken.  We will need someone to check on them after sunset on Dec 22, 23, 25, 26, and 27.  If you can do one of those days, let Pastor Nicole know!  

3. Stay and help take it down. After church on Dec 28th, we’ll be collecting the lights and bringing the into the nursery.  This is pretty quick work, since the cleaning up and putting away happens later!

4. Come for the clean up and put away party in January! This was a festive event last year, with folks enjoying some food while they got the jars ready to be put away neatly so as to make the following year’s Path that much easier.  Stay tuned for details.  

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Branches collection

Our neighbors who are served by the Branches Outreach Center are in need of men’s sweatpants, mens’ jeans sizes 28-34, shelf stable milk, small containers of laundry detergent (available from the Dollar Store), Spam,

juice boxes, and paper towels.  There is a collection box for your donations in the narthex.  Let’s help those who are living out of doors stay warm and safe this winter.  

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Coffee hours are back!

When your deacons and elders met last Monday, they concluded that coffee hours are essential to the vitality of our church.  This time to let the conversation wander between committee work and new grandchildren builds up our community in all kinds of ways.  So we are committed to offering coffee and something—even if it’s just a plate of Oreos!—every Sunday during our one-service season.  If you would like to bring your favorite after-church snack and some cream one Sunday, please sign up in the narthex.  If it seems daunting, sign up with a friend and do it together!  Committees and other church groups are also invited to sponsor a coffee hour and use it as a time to educate the congregation about what you do!

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Combined Christmas Choir
On December 14 at 4pm our Episcopalian friends at the Church of the Advent will offer a service of Lessons and Carols, and they are looking for singers to join their members in a combined choir.  If you would like to sing some lovely Christmas music, there will be two rehearsals to attend, and you can contact Father Alan at Church of the Advent for more information:  609 884 3065.

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Making your Thanksgiving plans?  Make it easy on you....

.... and join us at church!  For the past several years, we've been welcoming Coast Guard recruits to a full-on holiday meal, complete with munchies, turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie and all the Thanksgiving things.  Some of the recruits are away from home for the first time, and all of them are missing loved ones on the holiday.  Bring your friends and family and join us for the meal or to hang out for part of the day, as we help the recruits enjoy food,  fellowship, screen time, and a day of relaxation in our cozy, welcoming church home.  

Sign up in the narthex to tell us if you're coming and if you plan to bring anything (not required!).  Questions?  Ask Heather Averill, who heads up this lovely annual event. ________________________________________________________________________________________________

Community Thanksgiving Service
Reconnect with Methodists, Episcopalians, and other Cape May church folk as we give thanks together with our annual Thanksgiving worship service.  Recognizing that the day before the holiday can be a busy one, this year’s service will be on Tuesday, Nov. 25th, at 7 pm, at Cape Island Baptist Church.   This is a lovely opportunity to remember whom we are thanking with the Thursday feast, and also to remember our neighbors in need.  Any nonperishable food items you are able to bring, as well as the monetary offering, will go to support the Food Closet.

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Deacons' Bake Sale is This Saturday!
November 8 from 9am-11am

Your favorite bakers have done their usual magic, so be sure and bring your family, friends, and neighbors to the Bake Sale on Saturday, November 8th.  You'll want to put a few pies in the freezer for the holidays, and also enjoy a few treats right then and there! 
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Bible study: The Gospel of Luke continues 

On Wednesday afternoons at 4 pm, we meet in the Fellowship Room to work our way through the Gospel According to Luke.  After about 8 months, we have gotten to chapter nineteen!  Join us as we continue--maybe we'll be done by Easter?  Lots of laughter, insight, and the occasional near-tears moment in this lively group.  We are welcoming new folks all the time, so try us! 

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Our Church Staff:
Pastor: Rev. Dr. Nicole Wilkinson
Keyboardist/Jazz Leader: Greg Pordon
Organist: Milla Smith
Office Administrator: Nancy DeSantis