It was one of those thought-for-the-day-calendars you find in your Christmas stocking. The sayings mostly were trite and pithy, but every so often there was a truth worth repeating, for example: "Decide what you want and what you are willing to exchange for it. Set your priorities and go to work." In other words, if we're serious, saying yes to one thing often requires saying no to something else.

Jonah-after fleeing from the mission to which God was calling him (and three days and nights in the belly of the fish!)-now says "No!" to his former urges and "Yes!" to God as he sets out as God's prophet to Nineveh. Paul invites us to say "No!" to trivial matters and "Yes!" to the things of God that have serious and eternal consequences. Jesus calls the disciples to say "No!" to their boats and nets and families and much of everything else they have known and to say "Yes!" to his "Follow me and I will make you fish for people."

We feel a kinship with Jonah's situation, because he struggles. He runs away from God and only relents after a huge fish vomits him onto a distant shore. The call-response stories of Simon, Andrew, James, and John make it all seem so easy. One little word of invitation from Jesus and these men turn in an instant from fishers to disciples.

But most of us live somewhere in the middle, not resisting God's call with the vigor of Jonah but certainly responding more slowly and ambiguously than the disciples. So a question for today is: To what is God calling us to say "No!"? Remember, it's not just the ugly stuff but often good things that must be denied for the sake of following Jesus. And then we must also ask in faith: To what is Jesus inviting us to say "Yes!"?

Cochrane Family

We lost a longtime parishioner John Cochrane last week. if you would like to send a card to the family, the children's names and addresses are:

Mark Cochrane

165 Highland Street

Pittsfield, ME 04967

Meg Cochrane

27318 NE 116th Street

Duvall, WA 98019

Annual Meeting 2/8/15

All Saints Annual Meeting will be held on Sunday, February 8th with one service at 9 am and meeting and brunch to follow. Please begin gathering materials for your reports that should be submitted to allsaints@metrocast.net by January 16th.

Valentine Tea

The 18th Annual Valentine Tea will be held on Saturday, February 7th at 2:00 p.m. Help is needed for servers and kitchen help. Please contact the church office if you can help. Tickets will be on sale between services on Sunday, January 25th and Sunday, January 31st.

Help Wanted... and wanted... and...

Lord & Tailor sorters are needed for Mondays and Tuesdays from 9:30 am until 11 am. Any time that you would be able to help sort would be appreciated.
Additionally, Jo West is retiring from the role of scheduler of the Lord & Tailor volunteers covering shifts in the shop. We are looking for someone to take on this responsibility. Full training will be done and Jo will be here for support. This is done monthly and doesn't take much time, most done via email.
Counters are needed for weekly entries to our accounting system and preparation of bank deposits-shared and only 4 months a year.
AED inspections are done monthly and an easy process-someone is needed to handle this important task

Please contact the church office if you can help with any of these ministries. 569-3453

ECW Meeting Rescheduled

The next meeting is February 11th. Please mark your calendars of this change in date.

Got Syrup?

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner is happening on Tuesday, February 17th. Donations of real maple syrup are needed.

We Make the Road By Walking

This weekly class is held each Wednesday at 3 pm and 7 pm. If you wish to attend the 7 pm session, please email Bill at pastorbillpetersen@gmail.com.

How to Join All Saints

Just show up. OK, this may not be the only requirement, but it is by far, the most important one. Many Episcopal parishes are intentionally vague about assigning membership. We don't want to be known as places where weekly attendance is taken, annual contributions are tabulated, and your membership is assigned only if you pass muster. We are much less concerned about counting the people who are in, than we are about leaving someone out. Baptism in this or any Christian church, confirmation or reception by a bishop of the Episcopal Church or of a church in communion of the Episcopal Church (expected of all adult members), attendance, reception of Holy communion, and some sort of financial commitment. Of course, some people claim membership to our churches because a long-lost relative once attended, and this is fine by us. We believe the church should reflect the open and accepting arms of Jesus. (Source: The Episcopal Handbook, 2008)

Helping Hands

Do you know someone in the congregation who is ill or recovering from surgery? Or are you anticipating a medical procedure? Remember Helping Hands is a group of members of the Parish who provide meals for people in temporary need. Please contact Pastor Bill, Pat McLaughlin 569-6270, Georgia Mosher 569-9291, Pam Doyle 839-1639 or Dianne Wasmuth 569-3526 so that Helping Hands can help you!

Caregivers

Caregivers of Southern Carroll County Drivers needed. This group is a non profit in town that provides rides for medical appointments to hospitals and doctors. You can choose how much or how little you wish to participate. You can also choose if you wish to stay local or drive longer distances. If you are interested, please contact Shirley Bentley at 569-3714.

Life Ministries

All Saints is going to be featuring a food monthly that is in need for the Life Ministries Food Pantry. We welcome any and all donations of non-perishable items. January's food is boxed or individual serving bowls of macaroni and cheese. Please place donations in the basket in the Narthex. Thank you for all donations!

Pecans

ECW Pecans are still for sale for $12.00 per bag in the church office.

Activity Schedule for the Week

Sunday

11:15 a.m. Vestry Meeting - Library

2:00 p.m. AA Meeting - Parish Hall

6:00 p.m. AA Meeting - Parish Hall

Mon/Wed/Fri

10-2 Wolfeboro Senior Meals and Activities - Parish Hall/Kitchen

Monday

1:00 p.m. Adult Bridge - Library

3:00 p.m. All Saints Strength Training Group - Stevens Room

Tuesday

6:30 a.m. Women's Worship - Sanctuary

10:30 a.m. VNA Bereavement - Library

1:30 p.m. Scrabble Club - Beck Memorial Library

3:00 p.m. Farmer's Market - Library

Wednesday

1:30 p.m. Knitting Club - Stevens Room

3:00 p.m. Bible Study - Library

6:00 p.m. Table Tennis - Parish Hall

7:00 p.m. Bible Study - Library

Thursday

7:30 a.m. Men's Bible Study - Parish Hall

5:00 p.m. Dinner Bell

Thur

10-3 Lord & Tailor Shop - Outreach Center

Fri

10-3 Lord & Tailor Shop - Outreach Center

Saturday

10-1 Lord & Tailor - Outreach Center

10:00 a.m. AA Meeting - Library

8:00 p.m. AA Meeting - Parish Hall

All Saints e-News

We hope you have enjoyed reading our e-News and we encourage your feedback to help us make it even better. We publish an issue weekly on Friday afternoon, to help keep you up to date and in touch with our current news and activities. We think this may be especially helpful to those that are unable to attend our Sunday worship services, are out of town and away for the season. Please let us know if you have some information you would like us to share in future issues of this newsletter.

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Rev. Bill Petersen

Rector, All Saints Church

Phoebe VanScoy-Giessler

Editor, All Saints E-News