From the Rector – St. Francis & the Blessing of the Animals
This Sunday you’re invited to bring your pets to church! Whether they’re cats, dogs, reptiles, birds, or guinea pigs (or anything else), bring them for a blessing and for the sheer joy of worshipping God with all creation. This custom developed in remembrance of St. Francis of Assisi’s love for all creatures. Francis, whose feast day is October 4, understood all creatures to be our brothers and sisters.
There are many stories told about Francis’ interactions with animals, including the time he preached to a flock of birds in a meadow, how he talked to a wolf that was terrorizing the town of Gubbio and created peace between it and the people, and how he was the first person to stage nativity plays at Christmastime (using real barnyard animals of course).
One of Francis’ most famous writings, Canticle of the Sun, is a song praising God for all of creation. The words are poetic and the imagery is striking – speaking of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Brother Wind, Sister Water, Brother Fire, and Sister Earth our Mother. Read more about the Canticle of the Sun here and about St. Francis himself here.
And then bring your animals (real and stuffed!) to church this Sunday to be blessed – and to be a blessing to us all as we gather in the fullness of God’s creation.
Yours in God’s peace, Kristin+ 
Formation
SUNDAY SCHOOL NEWS Preschool through High School 9:30 – 10:15 lower level
Our Sunday School program has gotten off to a great start. It was wonderful to see the return of our students (and how they have grown over the summer) and to welcome new children. Please make sure you have completed an updated registration form for your child’s teacher.
We will begin our “4th Sunday Fun” group activity this month (October 27th). As a reminder, this activity will take place in the lower level during regular class time on the 4th Sunday of each month. All children will gather together for a group activity – usually an outreach project. Many of our older students enjoy helping the younger ones and it is a wonderful way to get to know each other. Note: For a future craft project, please save plastic lids from containers (at least 4-1/2” size from cottage cheese/sour cream/butter tubs/dips).
We are so very thankful for our dedicated teachers and helpers. At this time, we are still in need of additional volunteers to assist on a rotating schedule for the Bible Story pre-schoolers and kindergarten through 5th grades. Please speak with your child’s teacher to see if there is an area in which you can assist. Many thanks!
St. James’ Sunday School Team Yvette Allen, Bible Stories for Preschoolers Betsy Davis, Kindergarten – 2nd Grades Natalie DelRegno – 3rd – 5th Grades Joan Fader – Middle – High Grades Nancy Nanavaty – 4th Sunday Fun activities Mara Snyder – Children’s music
Fall Book Discussion Group Selection Our fall selection is Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown. Grab a copy now and be on the lookout for sign-ups for meeting dates in November to come together for conversation and reflection. 
Lunchtime Zoom Bible Study The Rev. Dina van Klaveren and The Rev. Kristin Krantz join forces to present a Lunchtime Bible Study using Zoom Video Conferencing. Join them online for lunch where they will be discussing scripture stories that are meaningful to our lives for four Thursdays this fall (10/24, 10/31, 11/7, and 11/14) from 12:10 pm to 12:50 pm. All are invited! Zoom in using your computer, tablet, or phone – and chew on scripture over your lunch hour. Click here to watch the introductory video: https://www.stjamesmtairy.org/2019/09/16/zoom-lunchtime-bible-study/ Click here to sign up: https://forms.gle/ES3TJoUMJyTFarLG8 
Choir/Music
Hi everyone! It’s great to have the choir back at our 10:30 service, singing anthems and service music we’ve been preparing for since August! This month in our “History of Church Music” series, we’ll talk a little bit about Martin Luther.
Most of us know Martin Luther as the guy who nailed the Ninety-Five Theses on the door of All Saints’ Church in Wittenberg in 1517, kickstarting the Protestant Reformation. One of the most crucial changes was the switch from Ecclesiastical Latin to the language of the people (in his case, German), but he actually had a profound impact on church music as well. As an Augustinian Monk, Luther was taught the value of Psalmody (the singing of Psalms). He was trained singer and composer, and even played the lute. Paul Westermeyer, in his book Te Deum: The Church and Music, quotes Luther as claiming that “…next to the word of God, music deserves the highest praise.” Luther’s push to develop a mass in the common vernacular didn’t only apply to spoken text but to the music as well!
Music was simplified, so all parishioners could sing, and hymns were written in four-part harmonies simply because folks enjoyed singing them. He transformed many chants, canticles, and psalms into folks tunes that everyone knew, a process we now call “Sacred Folk,” and steadily printed many psalm books and psalters throughout 1524-1525. One of Luther’s most prolific tunes is “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (“A Mighty Fortress is our God”), a hymn we still sing today:
Luther’s melody was a bit more rhythmic than the one we usually think of, as this recording demonstrates:
Luther’s movement inspired many musicians and composers during his lifetime and after. Johann Sebastian Bach was an organist and composer for the Lutheran Church, and even set many of Martin Luther’s tunes in his cantatas—listen to Bach’s BWV 80 “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott”:
Next time we’ll speak a bit about pronunciation of text for Advent and Christmas, since so many hymns and carols are full of Ecclesiastical Latin! Warmest, Richard
WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Parish Administrator Hours for the week of October 6, Monday through Thursday 10-4. 
Exploring the Daily Office—From Our Parish Intern On October 20th after both the 8:30 and 10:30 AM service, please join me for a brief meeting. We will explore a variety of options for how we might institute the Offices into the rhythm of life at St James’. Let’s see if we can discover together something that works well with the spirit of the community. We have a number of tools at our disposal to help us, including apps and digital resources to facilitate developing a solid practice. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at tommy.turbyville@gmail.com
Laundry Volunteer The tables clothes used for the basket raffle are in need of a good laundering. If you can help please take some from the pile in the narthex. Thank you!
Outreach Parents, don’t forget to give your college child’s address to Laura so they can receive a goodie box! We will finish up the collections on October 13. The boxes will be packaged and then blessed on October 20. If anyone is available to help package the goodies during the week of October 14, please let someone from outreach know. Thank you!
Basket Raffle and Silent Auction Thank You! We are pleased to report that our 13th Annual Basket Raffle and Silent Auction two-day Lions Yard Sale/Flea Market and Oktoberfest events were fun and quite successful. This would not have been possible without the generosity, both in materials, time, talent and spirit, of so many of you. We would like to first thank the Raffle committee—from our fantastic official correspondent and donation solicitor to our great advertiser, excellent volunteer coordinator and our awesome “Basket Brigade” assemblers to our faithful “transportation engineer”! Also, kudos to those who graciously posted flyers, moved and set up tables numerous times and to the wonderful ladies who called the winners–all deserve a huge thanks!!
In addition, we are very grateful for all of the wonderful donations of lovely items and baskets received from our parishioners. Many thanks also to our Nursery School and Thrift Shop for their continued support of this important fundraising event.
Blessings~ Marilyn Hancock & Ave Smith, Co-Chairpersons, 2019 Basket Raffle & Silent Auction
Fall Work Day this Saturday! Please join us this Saturday at 9:00 am. for our Fall Work Day. All skill levels welcome!
Prayer Rotation Please join the Daughters of the King in praying for each parishioner in rotation during 2018 by taking this notice home and by posting it where it will remind you pray to on a daily basis for the needs and blessings of:
Robin Winkler-PickettBlix and Lucy Winston
Christina Young
A member of the Daughters of the King will be contacting you this week for special prayer requests.
This week's Commermorations (A Great Cloud of Witnesses, 2019, Church Publishing Group)
| Novmeber 3 | Richard Hooker, Priest, 1600 |
| November 6 | William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1944 |
| November 7 | Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht, Missionary to Frisia, 739 |
