Giving Thanks
A message from
Matt Puckett
Program Director
Dear friends,
Have you been pulling out old recipes or searching online for new ones? Have you wisely picked up a few grocery items already? Or perhaps you’ve been immersed in chores, getting ready to host family and friends from afar? Yes, it’s the week before Thanksgiving and we’ve finally got a little bit of rain and a little bit of sweater weather! Advent is soon to follow, but first we gather this Sunday to mark the end of Ordinary Time and celebrate the Reign of Christ, or Christ the King Sunday.
Perhaps it seems a strange time to be discussing the reigns of kings, but let us remember what the celebration and work of this kin(g)dom looks like. On Sunday we’ll spend our 10am Learning Hour working on an intergenerational service project making postcards of gratitude for the Tuesday Table congregation. The words we share will be given out at the Tuesday Table Thanksgiving meal on the 26th, a joyful celebration of abundance with those who need it most. On Thanksgiving Day at 9am, volunteers from West End Church will join our friends from LDS and Congregation Shearith Israel for the 2024 Packathon, an annual tradition of interfaith service where we pack much-needed food supplies for our neighbors (register online if you’re interested). And if you can’t volunteer that day but still want to help, bring a bag of dried beans—any variety!—this Sunday and drop it off in the white bins at the front!
While we are called to root ourselves in service, we’re also created with rich inner lives that, like the greenest gardens, require care and attention. During this Sunday’s 10am Learning Hour, we will also be introducing Tony Amoury Alkhoury, who will be leading the weekly Learning Hour during Advent (starting December 1). Tony has put together a learning series based on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings, inspired by the devotional God Is In The Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas. We recommend this devotional to anyone looking to re-center themselves during this holy time of joy and preparation, regardless of whether you’re able to join at 10am on Sundays—and it will deepen the experience for those who do. It’s available in a variety of formats (and delivery times) via Amazon, Bookshop.org, and Christianbook.com.
And then, looking just slightly ahead, take note of our Sanctuary Decorating Party & Potluck on December 6 at 6pm! Our Director of Curriculum & Lifelong Learning, Cambridge Ridley Lynch, has put together a nifty online signup sheet for us to use as we think about what foods we can bring to fill our community with cheer.
I can always think of more to say, but let’s save it for Sunday! We’ve got crafts and coffee, I’ll be preaching, the choir will be singing, Rev. Will and Elder Marilyn will help us welcome two young ones to our church family through the sacrament of baptism—it’s messy, it’s beautiful, it’s sacred, it’s church. Come be a part of it.
In peace,
Matt
