Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Shrove Tuesday


Our church family celebrated Shrove Tuesday with a great celebration, as we piled on the pancakes. We had a fun time together, eating to our hearts' content. This tradition stems from the early Christian Church, when parishioners would consume all the fat in the house in preparation for the fast of Lent. We ate all the fat we could find this year, with one of our members eating as many as 10 pancakes all by himself! It looks like we are definitely ready for Lent. All are welcome to our Ash Wednesday Service of Holy Communion with The Imposition of Ashes this Wednesday, Feb 25, at 7PM.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Bold Women


This past Sunday was Women of the ELCA Sunday, when the women of our church helped to lead the worship service. Part of the service included an offering of 21 blankets and shawls. These handmade items were knitted and crocheted by St. James' own "Stitchers for Christ," a group of ladies who gather together on the third Thursday of every month at 7PM. These shawls and blankets were blessed by Pastor Andrea, and will soon be sent out to people in need of comfort and solace, joy and celebration. We pray that all who receive these handmade gifts will see the shawls and blankets as signs of God's unconditional love, in which they are covered forever.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Spread The Love

Happy Valentine's Day from the God Rockz group at St. James! They had fun decorating boxes for our shut-ins this week. With our congregation's help this Sunday, they are filling these boxes with treats and valentines to remind them of how much God loves them. "We love because God first loved us." 1 John 4:19

Sunday, February 8, 2009

God's Mission

Go! Share God’s Peace! Make Disciples!
This is our mission statement for 2009. We're excited about all the things that God is going to do in and through St. James to impact our community and the world in this new year. We're thrilled about some new ministries that have begun here recently, including a Prayer Shawl Ministry as well as a monthly mobile food pantry with Harvest Hope Food Bank. This spring, we're also hoping to start a Co-Ed Softball League, and we are looking forward to being a part of Operation Inasmuch with the SC Synod. God is active in this place, and we are heeding God's call to go forth and make disciples, baptizing, and sharing God's love with all the world.