November 5, 2023

November 5, 2023- Remembrance Sunday
GOD BRINGS US TOGETHER
Prelude Abide with Me
Welcome and Announcements
Introit: (42 MV Praise God for this Holy Ground)
Praise God for this Holy Ground,
place and people, sight and sound.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God’s goodness is eternal!

Call to Worship (responsive)
They lived in times when the world was gripped by war.
We come to remember the faith and hope of those who persisted.
They were our family members, our friends, and our neighbors.
We come to remember them before God.
They are examples of how to live in chaotic times.
We come to remember our calling to be God’s people in the world.

Hymn: 527 VU God! As With Silent Hearts
Prayer of Approach (together)
Gracious and Loving God, we gather on Remembrance Sunday
with gratitude as we remember those who served,
with uncertainty as we consider the future,
and with sorrow as we recognize the conflict
which takes place in so much of the world.
Draw us close, we pray,
that we may know again your grace and love, Amen.

GOD IS WITH US AS WE REMEMBER
“O Canada”
The Last Post and Silence Hilmar Hilmarsson
Lament The Flowers of the Forest Scott Williams
Rouse
Placing of the Wreath Captain Tim Hinds (Retd)
Prayer for Remembrance (together)
God, our help this day and every day, allow us in this time to remember what has happened in the past, to give thanks for those who offer themselves for the greater good, and to recommit ourselves to working and living for peace in our world, Amen.

Children’s Story and Lord’s Prayer
Hymn: 679 VU Let There Be Light

GOD SPEAKS THROUGH SCRIPTURE

Responsive Reading: Psalm 46 (p. 770)
First Reading: Micah 4:1-5 Michèle Ashby
Second Reading: James 3:17-18 Tim Hinds
Gospel: John 15:9-17
Anthem: In Flanders Fields (Eleanor Daley)
Sermon: “Remembering Peace”

GOD CALLS US TO RESPOND
Hymn: 718 VU O God, You Gave Your Servant John
Offertory Sentence and Response (538 VU For the Gift of Creation)
For the gift of creation, the gift of your love,
and the gift of your Spirit by which we live,
we thank you and give you the fruit of our hands.
May your grace be proclaimed by the gifts that we give

Prayers of the People
Hymn: 686 VU God of Grace and God of Glory
Commissioning and Benediction
Choral Benediction (Praise God for this Holy Ground)
Though praise ends, praise is begun,
where God’s will is gladly done.
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God’s goodness is eternal!

Postlude Calm as the Night (Karl Bohm) Hilmar Hilmarsson

Scriptures for Next Sunday

Amos 5:18-24 • 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 • Matthew 25:1-13UPCOMING AT ST. JAMES
Sunday, November 12
11:30 am United Church Women “UCW” will meet and all are welcome. Andrew Murray will be discussing his work on the murals at the back of the sanctuary.

Saturday, November 18
Noon-2:00 Holly Tea and Sale at St. James. Come be a part of the fun, fund-raising and fellowship!

Sunday, November 19
11:30 am Church Council will meet in the Meeting Room.

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENTS
Saturday, November 11
10:45 am Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in
Columbus Field.

How can you help support the life and work at St. James? If you are worshiping in person there are the offering boxes at the doors for your donation. Envelopes can also be dropped off at the office (or in the mail slot after hours) or mailed to “St James United Church, P. O. Box 1178 Antigonish, NS B2G 2L6.” Online donations via credit card can be made by clicking on the “Donate” button at www.stjamesuc.com and interac e-transfers can be sent to eft@stjamesuc.com.

Interested in having the weekly sermon delivered to your inbox? Just send a message to minister@stjamesuc.com or the church office asking to join the mailing list.

If you would like to sponsor the bulletin in celebration or memory of a loved one or a special day, please call the office at 863-2001 and let Barb know. A warm welcome to everyone who is joining us for worship. May this time help you draw to closer to God and your neighbour. We recognize that we gather in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, and we seek to be good neighbours to the First Nations.

Greeting at the door this Sunday is Pamela Cunningham and Comrade Gordon MacDonald.

This Sunday we are pleased to welcome members of Arras Branch 59 of the Royal Canadian Legion and their family members who are joining in our service of worship.

The prayers and Christians sympathy of the congregation are extended to the family and friends of Colin Blair Sangster, grandson of Marjorie Sangster. His funeral was last Wednesday at King’s United Church in Loch Katrine. Please keep the family in your prayers during this difficult time.

THIS WEEK AT ST. JAMES
Tuesday, November 7
10:00 am Hot Meal Program
3:00 pm Meditation Group in Meeting Room. For more information, call Fran @ 902- 863-3546

Thursday, November 9
10:00 am Hot Meal Program
7:00 pm Senior Choir. New Members welcome!

Holly Tea and Sale I hope you’ve had a chance to read the insert that was in last week’s bulletin. If you did not receive one, there are a few copies left in the narthex. This coming Friday, Nov. 10, is the last day to drop off items for the New to You, Jewellery, Silent Auction and the Christmas tables. We still have very few items for the New to You and Christmas tables. The back door of the church is open Monday to Friday from 9:30 and 11:30. The Bake sale drop off dates are in the insert and will be given again in next week’s bulletin. If you have nothing to donate, we would greatly appreciate a monetary donation. Just drop it off in the church office or place it in the collection box on Sunday, CLEARLY MARKED “HOLLY TEA AND SALE”. If you have any questions, please call me (Barbara Gardiner) at 863-1641.

The Rev. Peter Smith will be away next Sunday, November 12th. We are pleased have Michèle Ashby leading our service of worship. If there are any pastoral emergencies while Rev. Peter is away please contact the Rev. Doug Stewart at (902) 735-2102 or through the St. Martha’s Hospital Switchboard during the day (902) 867-4500

Remembrance Day is commemorated November 11. This is a day to pay our respects to those who wore a uniform and defended Canada. Those who came home, and those who never returned. Two minutes of silence should not be too much to ask … Interested in “poverty issues”? Your Social Justice Committee encourages you to look up “POVERTY TRENDS 2023 + CPJ + Natalie Appleyard”. This report focuses on poverty in Canada, climate justice, and refugee and migrant rights. Unfortunately, Nova Scotia is leading, or close to it, in many poverty measures – Market Basket, Low Income, Food Insecurity and Core Housing Needs.

Roof Over Your Head The UCW is supporting a fundraising effort for this local non profit housing assistance program by taking orders for Mitchell’s Soup Company dehydrated soup mixes. For more info, contact Joyce Hilling 902 870-9814 or Barb in the office.

St James “Prayer Circle” is always happy to welcome new members! Upon request, we pray for individuals or circumstances that would benefit from prayer. We function strictly by email and phone call – no meetings. If you would like to join our circle, or if you would like to request prayers, please give your name and contact information to Michèle Ashby after church or call her at 232-3473.

The latest issue of Connections the congregational newsletter for St. James, is available in the Narthex and online at www.stjamesuc.com. Thanks to the contributors and to Chad and Sarah for editing this edition.

Stewardship Thought for this Week (November 5, 2023)
“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” Desmond Tutu – cleric, theologian, human rights activist