News

Choir Information

/ jillkauffman

Our new music season will be starting after Labor Day. The adult choir rehearsals will resume on Thu. 9/6/12 from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. We welcome all existing members back and look forward to some new members joining to help us make a bigger, more joyful sound.

If you’ve been debating whether to join the choir, now’s a good
time to try it out. Everyone will start fresh, and we will be learning new material together. If you are not sure, just come to the first few rehearsals and get your feet wet. You won’t know if you’ll like it unless you give it a go.

We’re also planning to have the bell choir more regularly involved by playing once a month during a morning service. This means we need dedicated ringers who can commit to playing each month. Ability to read music is preferable. The “ringing” choir will rehearse on Thursday evenings from 6:00 – 7:00 p.m., prior to the “singing” choir.

Worship Teams

/ jillkauffman

Over the next few months, we will be getting ready to try out a new plan for worship leadership starting in January 2013. Our idea is to create seven “Worship Teams,” with each team led by a captain. Each worship team will include ushers, greeters, welcomers, communion assistants, an acolyte, a reader, and so on.  Each team will serve only seven times in the entire year, covering every Sunday except Easter, Christmas, and the Sunday following Christmas. For special holidays, we’ll recruit individuals instead.

The purpose of the worship teams is to organize our Sunday morning leadership so that we’ll have fewer last-minute scrambles to find the leaders we need; and so that it will be easier for volunteers to plan ahead. So, if you would be willing to commit to something like being an usher just seven times over the course of the year, this is a simple and brief, but important way to support the worship ministry of our church. We are especially looking for our seven captains, who will help their teams remember the schedule, and will help find substitutes when needed. Please talk to Jack Morris or Pastor Rachael if you’d like to help out as a captain. We’ll begin a survey in the bulletin and by email this October as a way to sign up for the various worship assistance positions.

James the Just

/ jillkauffman

The namesake of our church can lead to some confusion, especially for Christians who are less familiar with the litany of thousands of saints who are honored in our traditions. Traditionally, “Saint” James refers primarily to James the Apostle, called by Jesus. He was one of the sons of Zebedee, the brother of John the Apostle. He and his brother were called “sons of thunder” by Mark, which might mean they had fiery tempers! James is one of only three Apostles who witnessed Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountaintop. He is the only Apostle whose death is recorded in the Bible (executed by sword at Herod’s order). This is “our” St. James, whose symbol is the scallop shell, and who is venerated for travels and legends to numerous to recount here. In most languages other than English, his name is a variation of Jacob, rather than James.

But there is also another James! This is James, the writer of the letter that is recorded in the New Testament. About this James, we know even less. He seems to have been an important leader in the early church, and may even have been a Jewish priest during Jesus’ lifetime. A few references call him “the brother of Jesus,” though theologians have argued for centuries about what this means. In the letter (or epistle) traditionally attributed to him, James is concerned that the Christian life of faith cannot be complete without a thorough understanding of the “Law,” meaning the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible. Perhaps his study of the law was the reason for his nickname, “James the Just,” or perhaps his style of leadership earned him this title of respect. In any case, our 9am Bible Study for the month of September will be a great opportunity to uncover some of the mystery of this “other” James, as we also discuss and learn from the wisdom of his writings.

-Pastor Rachael