In This Edition:

• A Prayer on September 11

• Worship This Sunday

• The Apple Harvest Fair Returns September 20th

• AHF Silent Auction Call for Donations

• Sunday School Volunteers

• Sorting

• Blood Drive

• Food Donations for Fair

• Sermon Snippet

• Holding in Prayer

A Prayer on September 11

Worship This Sunday

The Apple Harvest Fair Returns September 20th

Apple Harvest Fair - What to do this week

The Fair is on September 20th, here are a few things that you can do this week to get ready:

1. Sign up or let Mike Keimig ([email protected]) know if you can volunteer either in the morning or afternoon or all day. We need volunteers for the midway and grill. 

2. Spread the word to your family and friends to VOLUNTEER or attend the Fair (10 - 3PM).  I can sign or send letters for credit hours for high schoolers.

3. Find your apron :

4. Bake something (especially pies and breads) to drop off on Friday September 19th for Heavenly Creations and remember to label your ingredients

5. Find your tent, tables, and cooler to put aside to bring in on Friday, September 19th

Schedule

Sunday Sept 14th

Fair Meeting After Church

Monday Sept 15th

Silent Auction Donations Due 

Tuesday Sept 16th

6:30-8:30 pm -  Silent Auction Basket Wrapping

Thursday Sept 18th

Start setting up Midway in park (contact Rich Keen if you can help)

4:00 pm - Make Apple Crisp (bring a hat & your favorite peeler / apple corer)

7:00 - 8:00 pm - Silent Auction Table Setup

Friday Sept 19th

5:00 pm - Drop Off Baked Goods (make sure the ingredients are labeled)

5:30 pm - Setup Outside Venues and Update signs

5:30 pm - Drop off pop up tents, tables, and coolers

Saturday Sept 20th

8:00 AM - Fair Setup Begins

10:00 - 3:00PM - Apple Harvest Fair

3:00 - 5:00 - Clean up

AHF Silent Auction Call for Donations

We are back in full swing ramping up our Silent Auction for this year’s Apple Harvest Fair. Last year we raised over $8,000 due to generous donations, in large part, from our amazing church family. Please email Christine Bemko at [email protected] if you have a donation to give – no matter how big or small. Here are three ways to help:

· Donate an item that you have or can make – here are some ideas of what always does well: Church member Handcrafted items, fall themes, vintage/antiques, local artwork, New England sports team items, gourmet treats, new in-box jewelry, handbags or accessories and any unused gift cards that you don’t plan on using! 

· Purchase an item to contribute to a basket, please use this Sign-Up Genius to sign up for an item that you can donate: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4FACAB23AAF8C34-58241791-2025

· Sponsor an item! If you don’t have time to shop but would like to provide some financial support, please venmo Christine @Christine-Bemko with any value and include “Silent Auction” in the note. We’ll use this money to round out what we need to create an amazing Silent Auction!

Sunday School Volunteers

Rally Sunday is coming up on September 21, and with it the return of Sunday School! This year, we are using a new one-room-schoolhouse style curriculum called Whirl, which introduces kids to biblical stories and themes through videos, songs, and fun activities. Our CE Committee (Joanne Grant and Deidre Donaldson) is ready and willing to help train teachers and familiarize folks with this new curriculum. We will also be able to provide materials in advance through our new online digital subscription (hard copies can also be made available from the church office), which will make preparation even simpler.

You can see the schedule of lessons for the Fall/Winter of 2025 and sign up to be a leader or helper by clicking here.

Sorting

If you would like to help out sorting toys and books, Nancy Farris will be at the church tomorrow, Friday, and next Monday and Wednesday from 10-12.

Blood Drive

There will be a blood drive on Wednesday, September 17th, from 1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. If you are able to volunteer some hours, please get in touch with Rich Keen ([email protected]).

Food Donations for Fair

Rich has put together a list of items if you wish to donate to the fair. I have attached the file.

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Sermon Snippet

This Saturday, September 13, will be the 1,690th anniversary of the dedication of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. It was constructed on what was believed to be the site of Jesus’s burial, and contained within its walls a holy relic: a piece of the very cross Jesus was crucified on. To this day, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher is one of the holiest sites in the world—a place where Christians of all sects and denominations, every country and language around the world come to pray together, to remember Jesus’s great sacrifice, which was really God’s great expression of Love for the world.

This Sunday, we will hear Paul’s words about the “foolishness” of preaching a crucified savior. To those who put their trust in their own power, Christ’s self-sacrificial love does indeed seem foolish. But, as Christians, we are invited to trust not in ourselves, but in the power of Christ and the Cross, which for us is not a symbol of weakness, but great strength, not a sign despair, but God’s great victory; not a weapon to be wielded against others, but a light that shines in the darkness.

Holding in Prayer

This week, as a community of faith we pray:

• for Barbara Carroll, for healing after a couple of falls

• for Barbara’s grandson Shayne, for healing after a serious head injury

• for the victims of the shooting at the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis

• for Jordan, Amelia, Marcus, Madison, Charlie, and Lainey, as they study at college

• for Nelson’s son Greg, who is healing from a concussion

• for Kerry’s friend Diane, who is undergoing a difficult course of treatment for cancer

• for Noah, for healing after crashing his new E-Bike and for continued safety

• for Shirley’s niece Karen, who is receiving palliative care, and for the comforting times with family.

• for Pam’s friend Cookie, as she battles cancer.

• for Lew’s friend Dan, as he faces kidney disease