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All Saints Day first Sunday in November
By Jim Cullumber, Christian Church Foundation
With your fall worship planning already under way, please remember to incorporate the first Sunday in November as All Saints Sunday into your schedule. This Sunday provides a wonderful opportunity to recognize those who have gone to life eternal, and the impact their lives had on your congregation. The Christian Church Foundation has resources to help you plan for a meaningful worship day experience. Download them
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You are invited...
To put together an identity "month" that suits your congregation and context.
 Knowing many of you have your sermon schedules and bible studies planned well into Advent, the Council on Christian Unity would like to invite you to pick a stretch of four to 12 weeks between now and July 2015 to have small group studies and/or a book study and/or a sermon series on the Disciples identity. Suggested approaches are outlined on the disciples.org/our-identity page.
Materials available free of charge on the disciples,org/our-identity page include four videos in English, Spanish, Korean and French; four small-group study guides for those videos in all four languages; an individual study guide that could be used as "homework" for a group video study; sermon samples and resources (under preaching) as well as posters.
 A new resource is now being offered in the form of study guides for Sharon Watkins' book of personal reflections and stories - Whole: A call to unity in a fragmented world. The book contains study questions at the end of each of its six chapters but there are also two four-week options provided that follow a modular approach and a chapter approach respectively. Royalties for books purchased for the "one read" effort will go to Disciples Mission Fund.
October is Ministry Month
by Pension Fund staff
Did you know that half of all ministers starting out will leave the ministry within five years, and only 1 out of every 10 ministers will actually retire as a minister in some form?
Pension Fund is asking for your help in making an impact: If this is something you're passionate about
- Share the "Ministry Still Matters" video via email and social media
- Use the hashtag #ministrystillmatters
- OR submit your ministry story to Pension Fund at www.pensionfund.org/ministrystillmatters (How does ministry still matter to you? How can you encourage those in ministry? When did you first accept the call to ministry?)
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September is hunger action month
by Lynette Johnson, director of church relations
The Society of St. Andrew offers resources free of charge and can be ordered from the Society of St. Andrew's website, www.endhunger.org. Many resources can be downloaded from the website as well.
- Food Waste Quiz DVD : This 18 ½ minute, narrated, interactive presentation offers a quick introduction to the Society of St. Andrew's work.
- National Hunger Action Month Calendar for Prayer and Action
- Simple Supper : educational and devotional material to support a simple congregational meal of rice and beans
- Advent and Lenten Devotional Booklets : available in quantity at no charge. Individuals may sign up to receive the devotions via daily emails.
- Good Friday Fast :: devotional guide to accompany a fast for a period of one to three days.
- The Fast That I Choose : A six- or twelve- session hunger-focused Bible study, suitable for adults or senior highs.
- Abundance Orchard : Five session curriculum for preschool and elementary-aged children. Designed for Vacation Bible School or rotation model Sunday School
- Harvest of Hope : Work/study mission retreats for middle schoolers, intergenerational groups (ages 10+), senior highs and alternative spring break experiences
Please visit the Society of St. Andrew's website, www.endhunger.org or contact Director of Church Relations, Lynette Johnson, 800-333-4597 or church@endhunger.org for more information about any of these programs or resources.
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