Jim Cawse and Marietta Rapetti Cawse had the incredible opportunity to live in Venice, Italy for an entire year, from May 2007 through June 2008. They lived in the old city and were able to watch the ebb and flow of the tides and seasons. Jim has distilled their experiences into a slide show to be shown on Saturday, November 15, at 6 p.m., in the Dining Room. This will also be a pot-luck dinner - bring something with an Italian flair! A collection will be taken for restoration of St George's Church, the only Anglican church in Venice.

The Adult Forum continues the series entitled The Words we Pray, Sundays at 9:00 am in the Guild Room. Led by the Rev. Dr. Stephen White, this series will help everyone gain a basic understanding of the prayers we use regularly in worship and in private devotions. We will begin with the Lord’s Prayer and the Nicene Creed. The Adult Forum will also focus on how the Episcopal Church is both “catholic” and “reformed” and what that means to our collective identity as Christians and spend some time looking into the Book of Common Prayer as a resource for private and communal worship and devotion.


November 16: An introduction to The Book of Common Prayer

Writing as a Spiritual Practice will meet Sundays November 16th and 23rd at 11:30 in the Sears Room. On the 16th, we'll discuss a chapter by Ron Hansen entitled "Writing as Sacrament." Copies are available.

Contact Jill Rierdan for more information

Will take store-bought hats, gloves, mittens and scarves as well. Don’t forget the Coat Drive, too!

On November 20th, we will present all the collected hats, gloves, mittens, scarves and coats to our guests at St. Stephen’s Table’s Thanksgiving Dinner. Whether the items are hand-made or store-bought, new or gently used and clean, they will be very much appreciated. We would ask that other clothing such as sweaters and sweatshirts not be included in this drive as we have limited space to store clothing.

Thank you to those who have donated. Thank you to those who will.

-- Connie Bullard, Potpourri Coordinator

Did you know that St. Stephen's provides twenty Thanksgiving baskets for parish families? With Thanksgiving just ahead, we are collecting food for the baskets. All food donations will help fill the baskets with traditional Thanksgiving dinner ingredients and can be brought on Sunday or dropped off at the Parish Office through Monday, November 24. We suggest the following:

We will be offering another Catechesis of the Good Shepherd workshop this year. You are invited to join us on November 23 in the Auditorium immediately following the 10:00 Sunday service. The workshop will be followed by a delicious lunch.

Contact Suzanne White to learn more about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd.

Email Suzanne here

The next gathering of the Eclectic Book Group will be on Friday, December 5, in the Sears Room at 6:00pm. The book for the month is To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee. The format remains the same: potluck dinner followed by book discussion, with fellowship a theme throughout. All are welcome, especially those who have not attended before.

Find out more about the book at Amazon

The celebration will include:

Verger Bob Bascom and his wife Mary Ann attended the 20th Annual Conference of the Vergers Guild of the Episcopal Church which was held at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Burlington, Vermont from October 23 to 26, 2008. 70 Vergers were registered from all over the US as well as some from Canada and England. 22 guests also attended.

Learn more at the Guild's website

Following a recent upgrade to the parish's technology infrastructure, a half-dozen or so pieces of computer equipment are available to interested parishioners for no charge. This older equipment is in good working condition and includes wireless PC receiver cards - for desktop PCs and for laptops - a modem, and a router.

Please contact Don Phipps for more information.

Email Don here

Many of you remember Valerie Senger who was killed in a tragic accident last August. Valerie has been a frequent guest at St. Stephen's Table, and joined our congregation when she was confirmed last year. Valerie left her 13 year old daughter Saphire, to whom she was devoted. Saphire is now living with the family of a friend in the town of Washington. She and that friend are being home schooled and pursue their passion for dance at Studio One in Pittsfield. Her host family has set up a Valerie Senger Memorial Scholarship at that studio, which currently pays for Saphire's lessons. Any who wish to remember Valerie or help Saphire in this way are invited to take pare in a fund to be contributed from St. Stephen's toward that scholarship. Checks may be made out to St. Stephen's Church, indicating that they are for the Senger Memorial fund. Any questions may be directed to Lois Neumann.

Transitions Support Group will continue to meet on Thursdays, from 7:00 - 8:30 pm. For anyone going through a time of change in their lives: jobs, relationships, aging, death of a loved one, chronic illness, empty nest, etc. Held in our Chapel, the group is being led by the Rev. Dr. Hannah Anderson.

You can reach the online photo and address directory through the link below. (There is also a link to the directory on the St. Stephen's website at www.ststephenspittsfield.org.) To access the site, you must enter a password: 67East (note there is NO space between "67" and "East" and "East" must be capitalized). You may also contact the Parish Office for the password. Please note two things:

1. We can add photos, names and contact information very easily. This is one advantage of an online directory - it's much easier to keep up to date. Please forward your photos and contact information to the online directory administrator as per the contact information on the first page of the online directory. We want everyone's photo and contact information!

2. We can also change and delete information as necessary. Again, please use the contact information on the first page of the online directory to request revisions.

Access the online photo and address directory here

Green Gift Giving

It's that time of year again, when many people feel pressured to buy hundreds (maybe even thousands!) of dollars worth of gifts to celebrate the holidays. We hear about the spiritual cost of this, and the monetary, but do we think about the environmental cost of this practice?

Remember that all things are made using resources extracted from the earth (often in toxic ways). The production of things also costs resources, and then there is the shipping and packaging of these items.Then we often further package them in gift wraps made from non-recyclable papers and dyed with toxic inks. The final insult is that 99% of these items will end up in the trash within 6 months. Yes, 6 months. For more information, and before you do any holiday shopping this year, take twenty minutes to watch this eye-opening video, "The Story of Stuff."

Ask yourself if each gift is truly needed. Then think about where and how it was made, what materials went into it, how it got to you, how it is packaged, and finally, how long it might be expected to be used before going to the trash. Then think about green alternatives: for a child, use black walnut shells to make small animals to play with or acorns and wool to make little people. For older children, begin a project together such as planting a pizza garden, raising money for a friend in need, or building something useful. For adults, the gift we all seem to need is time. Take you spouse away for a night. Go for a walk with a lonely friend. Do the laundry for a week so your wife can focus on something else for that week. All these are gifts that are meaningful, satisfying both the giving and receiving impulse while fostering closeness and creativity. Best of all, they are green. Very, very green.

This week's recycle volunteer is Sarah Flynn.

(Interested in seeing your name in print? Sign up to recycle and you, too, can enjoy fame and recognition!)

Find "Story of Stuff" video here

Sundays, through November 16, 9:00 am: Adult Forum - The Words We Pray (Guild Room)

Sundays, 9:00 am: Jesus & Java (Auditorium)

Thursdays, 7:00 - 8:30 pm: Transitions Support Group

Saturday, November 15, 9:30 am - 1:00 pm: Preparing for Advent: Time and Space for Grace

Saturday, November 15, 6:00 pm: A Visit to Venice Slide Show & Potluck

Sundays, November 16 and 23, 11:30 am: Writing as a Spiritual Practice

Tuesday, November 18, 7:00 - 8:30 pm: Environmental Health Training for Churches

Sunday, November 23, 11:30 am: Catechesis Materials Making Workshop

Monday, November 24: Collection Deadline for Thanksgiving Baskets

Tuesday, November 25, 10:00 am: Prayer Shawl Knitters

Friday, December 5, 6:00 pm: Eclectic Book Group

Sunday, December 7: Stewardship Celebration

November's calendar on our website

"There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places."

-- Wendell Berry