Sunday Advent Series... Sunday Nov. 27 and the following three Sundays of Advent 9 to 9:30 a.m: Join Vicar Conrads for her Advent Series "Preparing your heart for the coming of the Christ Child."

Thanksgiving Day Service... Thursday Nov. 24 10:00 a.m: Join us at St. Martha's for our simple, elegant and traditional Thanksgiving Day service; a wonderful and humble way to usher in the holidays.

It's a Green Beans Thanksgiving... Sunday, Nov. 20: St. Martha's responsibility to the Action food bank for this Thanksgiving is 150 cans of green beans. Please bring as many cans as you can by the deadline, Sunday Oct 20.

The ECW's Famous Annual Christmas Boutique & Bazaar... Saturday Nov. 19 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. & Sunday Nov. 20 after the 10:00 a.m. service: The holidays are upon us. Start 'em off right with all the wonderful and unique items available only from the ECW's Bazaar Boutique.

A Quiet Day in San Gabriel... Saturday Nov. 19 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m: All in the diocese are invited to a Quiet Day at Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel. The day, which is scheduled from 9.30am to 12.30pm on Saturday, Nov. 19, is designed to help facilitate opening minds and hearts, body and emotions to God. The Quiet Day begins in the church and includes brief devotional talks on scripture and daily life, reflective walks through our seven-acre campus, and silence and solitude in the sanctuary. The day ends with Holy Eucharist in the church. A $10 donation is requested and refreshments are provided. Reservations maybe made by calling the church office. The Church of Our Saviour is located at: 535 West Roses Road, San Gabriel. 626.282.5147.

Holiday Stroll... Friday Nov. 18 6 to 9:00 p.m: Glendora's annual holiday stroll is from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at North Glendora Avenue and Foothill Boulevard.

Holiday festivities include traditional sleigh rides, caroling, bargain holiday shopping, hot cider, treats from area merchants, a surprise visitor from the North Pole, and more.

The doors of First Christian Church of Glendora will be open from 6 to 9 p.m. for its annual holiday open house in conjunction with the stroll.

Altar Guild Recognition... Sunday Nov. 13 8 and 10:00 a.m: Altar Guild Commissioning and Recognition Sunday. The Altar Guild of St. Martha's is a wonderful group of very dedicated people who work diligently behind the scenes to make sure that everything is in place for the celebration of the Eucharist. They care for the altar linens, polish the silver and brass, set out the wine and the bread, prepare the candles and set up for Sunday and special services. And that's just the tip of their iceberg; they truly are St. Martha's unsung heros.

Pasadena Parish "Won't be Bullied..." Thursday Nov. 10: The Rev. Dr. George Regas, in a letter to the L.A. Times editorial section on Wednesday, Nov. 9, said an IRS audit "will not diminish the prophetic ministry of All Saints Church," or prevent other churches from speaking out against the war in Iraq.

Regas was responding to news reports earlier this week that All Saints, where he served as rector from 1967 to 1995, might be audited because an antiwar sermon he preached Oct. 31, 2004, the day before the presidential election, "might have constituted an impermissible intervention into a political campaign under the Internal Revenue Code.

"I took great care to say that I did not want to tell people how to vote, but that I was challenging them to go into the voting booth on Tuesday taking with them all that they knew about Jesus, the peacemaker. To take all that Jesus meant to them and then vote their deepest values," Regas said in the letter to the Times editorial section.

"No one from the IRS attended my sermon, to my knowledge. The agency apparently saw an article about it in The Times the following day. The Times described it as "an indictment of the Bush administration's policies on Iraq" and noted that I had criticized the drive to develop more nuclear weapons and described tax cuts that benefited the rich as "inimical to the values of Jesus." Based on that, the IRS made a subjective determination that the sermon implicitly opposed one candidate and endorsed another," Regas said.

The Rev. J. Edwin Bacon, All Saints' current rector, in a press release issued earlier this week, denied any wrongdoing by the parish.

"We've broken no rules," Bacon said. "The IRS's concerns are unsupported by the facts. They also infringe on religious freedom and freedom of speech, and threaten core values which the congregations holds dear. The sermon explicitly ended with "when you go into the voting booth on Tuesday, take with you all that you know about Jesus, the peacemaker. Take all that Jesus means to you. Then vote your deepest values."

--The Episcopal News Service contributed to this report. For the full text of the All Saints, Pasadena press release, visit www.episcopalchurch.org/ens

New Schedules Now Available... New service duty schedules are now online under All About St. Martha's / Schedules & Downloads("http://www.stmarthas.net/all_about/downloads/index.html"). Download away..!

New Schedules... We're still working out a few kinks, but new service duty schedules should be online under All About St. Martha's / Schedules & Downloads("http://www.stmarthas.net/all_about/downloads/index.html") anytime now. Check back soon...

Acolyte Recogniton... Sunday Nov. 6 10:00 a.m: Acolyte Recognition Sunday and Family Service with our Youth Chorale. In our Anglican tradition, altar servers are called acolytes and can be girls or boys and of any age (usually 10 and up). Acolytes assist in worship by carrying a processional cross, lighting candles, holding the Gospel book, holding torches, assisting the priest set up and clean up at the altar, and many other tasks as seen fit by the priest or acolyte warden. Usually the acolytes are ranked as they develop their abilities to serve; Trainees, Junior Acolytes, Senior Acolytes, and Acolyte of Merit.

Pizza Party..! Saturday Nov. 5 6:30 p.m: Help us plan out this Christmas' Youth Chorale program and pageant. Kids; drag your parents. Pizza and drinks provided. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged!

Download Your "Stewardship 2006" Pledge Packet... Here's another heads up: St. Martha's "Stewardship 2006" pledge packet, includes Bishop's Committee and the Vicar's letters, pledge and census forms, and our stewardship brochure will only remain available for download at All About St. Martha's / Schedules & Downloads("http://www.stmarthas.net/all_about/downloads/index.html") 'til Sunday Nov. 6.

Double the Music... An extremely generous anonymous donor has created St. Martha's "Special Music Fund" and is doubling all contributions. By contributing, you'll be helping to enrich our music programs with instruments and music. Donate by writing "Special Music Fund" on the memo line of your check. Let's all take advantage of this wonderful opportunity.

Here Before You Know It... St. Martha's Chorale is beginning to work on its Christmas season program, complete with a Christmas Service Nativity play! What a wonderful opportunity for our youth. We need your help. See Violet Mandeson for details.

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