John & Kelly Petch welcomed new baby William Peter on October 2. All are invited to share the love of St. Paul’s by providing a meal for the family - the last date available is Friday, November 16. Visit the Take Them A Meal sign-up form (https://tinyurl.com/y78trrst) for dates, instructions, and food allergy information.

Preparations for this year’s Christmas Pageant are underway, and all children in kindergarten through grade 5 are encouraged to participate! Practices will be held each Sunday, 11:45 a.m. -1:00 p.m., with a dress rehearsal on Saturday, December 15 starting at 9:30 a.m. We will present the pageant in the 10:30 worship service on Sunday, December 16. A snack will be provided at each rehearsal. If you would like to participate but were unable attend earlier rehearsals, contact pageant director Ashley Derr at ashleyderr11@gmail.com as soon as possible.

The St. Paul’s annual craft fair has been extended through November 18. Knit and quilted items, woodworking, pottery, photos, jewelry, jam and preserves, and other handmade treasures are available. All proceeds from Craft Fair sales are donated to worthy causes. If you have any questions or would like to suggest a charity we might support, contact Mary Revenis (mrevenis@cnmc.org, 301-951-8470) or Helen Quave (hquave@yahoo.com).

Thanks to all who ordered the 2018 White House Historical Association ornament. Ornaments are available for pick-up in the main office on Sunday morning. Proceeds from this year's sale benefit the Pastor's Discretionary Fund. Please contact Tracey Furman (301-933-7933 ext.106 or email tfurman@stpaulsk.org) with any questions.

Please read more about how you can generously share your blessings this holiday season at our Holiday Giving page. St. Paul's will distribute Thanksgiving food for hungry families on November 18. Our Giving Tree will allow us to provide Christmas gifts for children, and our Cookies and Carols party provides sweet treats, crafts, and cheer - sign up online!

All students age 2 through grade 12 are invited to attend Sunday School during the 10:30 am worship hour most Sundays throughout the school year. This schedule changes somewhat on special Children's Sundays: November 18 and December 16. Please visit our CHILDREN's page  http://stpaulsk.org/community/children for more information!

Save the date! On November 18, 2x4s (for folks in the 20s-to-40s age range) will celebrate an early Thanksgiving with a potluck hosted by the Lipford family after the 10:30 a.m. worship service. The main dish this time is spatchcock chicken! Sign up here and let us know what else you can bring: https://tinyurl.com/yanfg4pu

After singing in worship on November 18, the Youth Choir will take a short break. There will be no rehearsal after church on November 18 or November 25. Please plan to join us for rehearsals in Room 211 starting at 11:45 a.m. on December 2, 9, & 23; we will be preparing music to sing during the 5:00 p.m. service on Christmas Eve, December 24. All youth grades 6-12 are welcome. Even if you think you can't sing, we challenge you to come anyway and let us prove you wrong! Come join us! For more information, please visit the MUSIC page.

The Kensington/North Chevy Chase Ministerium sponsors an interfaith Community Thanksgiving worship service annually. This year, the service will be on Tuesday, November 20, 7:30 p.m., at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church (9705 Summit Ave.). All are welcome.

This monthly time to enjoy music, prayer, and lunch opens with an opportunity to share a few of our favorite hymns, then moves into a short program focused on the life and work of a specific composer or lyricist. We will be exploring the voluminous hymnody of Charles Wesley throughout the fall. Join us Tuesday, November 20. Rev. Kate Mackereth Fulton and Meg Baker will be leading us in the Octagon at 12:00 p.m. (no musical experience needed!), and stay for a tasty lunch provided by Ginny Hagberg. There is no registration and no cost to attend, although donations for lunch are welcome.

Join us at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21, in the Sanctuary. Bring your desire for stillness and God’s loving and eternal presence to this weekly offering of reflection, silence, and prayer. Each week will have a different focus or form of moving closer to the divine. For more information, visit the Still Wednesday page.

The Hunger Ministry's Communion Collect in November hold food distribution  night on Monday, December 3. Nonperishable food items are welcome in the bins in the Narthex at any time! Grocery store gift cards and monetary donations are also welcome. Donations receipts are available in the church office. Please read more at our Hunger Ministry page!

Readers in the 20s-to-40s age range: start reading now for our next Book Club meeting. We'll discuss Educated by Tara Westover on December 10, 7:30-9:00 p.m. at the King home. In this memoir, Westover describes how she survived her survivalist upbringing in rural Idaho and how she eventually made it to college despite having almost no experience with formal schooling since her fanatical father thought public education was a means for the government to brainwash its gullible citizens. For those of us who took our educations for granted, or who even occasionally fell asleep in class, this story of one woman's journey is eye-opening. Contact Rachel King at reking30@gmail.com for more details!

The Friendship Club will be meeting in Heavener Hall on Tuesday, December 11 starting at 11:30 a.m. This is a long-standing community-wide gathering designed to offer all older adults a time of fellowship, food, and entertainment. Come and join us as we make our golden years our great years.

The Christmas Tree Sale is coming! Even though the sale doesn't begin until Friday, November 30, you can sign up now and make plans to help during one of the time slots. 

The sale will be open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays Nov. 30 - Dec. 16, while supplies last. Sale hours are: Fridays 12:00-7:30 p.m.; Saturdays 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Sundays 11:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. We will offer Douglas, Fraser and Canaan fir trees. Pine roping and wreathes will also be sold by Boy Scout Troop #439. 

Volunteers are needed to help staff the sale. To simplify things for the volunteers and customers, trees are priced according to size only rather than variety and size. It's great fun helping local folks find their perfect tree. The sign-up sheet is available in the church office - groups, individuals, families, and children are welcome!

This annual workshop for children will be held Saturday, December 1, 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room. Children will have the opportunity to make a variety of Advent and Christmas-related crafts. This is free of charge, but donations are welcome. For more information or to volunteer, please contact Meg Baker (mbaker@stpaulsk.org, 301 933-7933 ext. 104).

Pancake breakfasts are held on the first Saturday of the month, now through June. Serving hours are 8:00-10:30 a.m. and we offer pancakes, eggs, sausage, ham, fruit, and other dishes. All proceeds are donated to charities that work to aid those throughout our region and the world. Read more at our Pancake Breakfast page!

Thinking about becoming a member or just want to learn more about life at St. Paul’s? Our next Pie with the astors is scheduled for December 1. Please RSVP by contacting the church office (stpaulsunited@stpaulsk.org, 301-933-7933) no later than the Thursday before. Plan to join Rev. Adam Snell and others at 10:00 a.m. in Room 109 for homemade pie and relaxing conversation about the Christian faith and this church we call home. Childcare is available upon request.

Bishop LaTrelle Easterling will be holding meetings with lay and clergy members from our region to explore The Way Forward and how the denomination may address issues of sexuality at the February 2019 session of the UMC General Conference. Plan to attend on December 2, 3:00-5:00 p.m. at North Bethesda UMC (10100 Old Georgetown Rd). Please contact Pastor Kate if you would like additional information. Read more about The Way Forward HERE.

Rev. Kate Mackereth Fulton will be leading a Sunday Advent Study on December 2, 9, 16, & 23, 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. in Room 109. Guided by Walter Brueggemann’s book, Celebrating Abundance, we will journey through Advent looking beyond the world’s extravagance to realize the true feast laid out before us. Lunch and childcare will be provided. Cost is $12.00. Sign-up by Thursday, November 29 in the church office or online at stpaulsk.org/community/adult-education.

This year, shop Scattered for Service and give the gifts you’ve always wanted: peace on earth, an end to hunger, education for a child, and more! Visit Heavener Hall after worship on Sunday, December 2 and Sunday, December 9 to place orders for “alternative giving” programs. The Scattered for Service catalog, filled with programs that provide valuable assistance to our neighbors close to home and around the world, will be available soon. To learn more, contact Athena Gaalswyk at athena_gaalswyk@yahoo.com.

Save the date! The December Large Group Dinner will be held on Sunday, December 2. This pot-luck dinner is open to all. It’s a great opportunity to meet others of the congregation and some of their friends in a truly Methodist way: over dinner! More details will be available soon. 

Plan to join us for an old-fashioned Christmas Caroling adventure on Friday, December 21, 6:30-8:00 p.m. All ages are welcome! We will gather in Heavener Hall, then spill into the streets of Kensington to sing joyful songs and return to St. Paul’s for cider, cocoa, and cookies. Contact: Meg Baker at mbaker@stpaulsk.org or 301-933-7933 ext. 104.

St. Paul's mourns with the family of Jill Ednie Hicks following her death. The memorial service celebrating her life was held Saturday, November 3, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary of St. Paul's UMC. In lieu of flowers, the family asks donations be made to St. Paul's UMC Youth Program; checks may be mailed to the church office. Click here to read the obituary, originally published in the Washington Post.

The Biblical Archaeology Forum, usually hosted at the Bender JCC in Rockville MD, offers a monthly presentation that brings together historians, archaeologists, and biblical scholars to look at intriguing questions and broaden our understanding of the biblical world. 

Go to our Adult Education Page to lean more about upcoming lectures, to find the full schedule for 2018-2019, and to access links to other Biblical Archaeology Forum resources.

The United Methodist Committee on Relief is at work in the U.S., assisting those affected this hurricane season. You can help support the work of UMCOR’s early response teams, disaster coordinators, and local churches. Checks should be made payable to St. Paul’s UMC with “UMCOR Hurricane” on the memo line. To read more about UMCOR, visit https://tinyurl.com/ycgfn3kz for Current Disaster Response news.

Both Middle High and Senior High youth groups are meeting on Sundays this year, unless we have another event planned. Normally, Middle High will meet 4:30-6:00 p.m., then there’s a half hour grace period for pick-ups and drop-offs before the Senior High meeting time, 6:30-8:30 p.m. There's also a new Thursday Night Youth Bible Study, and lots of seasonal events.  Go to our Youth page for dates and more information about activities, Fall Retreats, and trips. 

Adult Sunday School, led by Vern Schinski, meets Sunday mornings, 9:00-10:00 a.m. in the Parlor. This fall, the group will be using several DVD sources to study the Gospel of John, including Adam Hamilton’s “John: The Gospel of Light and Life.” For more information, visit our Adult Education page.

Prayer Lift gathers each Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. in the DuVall Chapel to lift up the prayer requests of the St. Paul's community. Bible Study sessions are held each week on Tuesday mornings at 10:45 a.m. in the Cleveland Library. All are welcome at this drop-in Bible study led by Rev. Kate Mackereth Fulton - there is no registration or fee, and visitors are welcome.

We are welcoming new Liturgists (to read the scripture) and Communion Stewards (to help serve communion) who would like to assist in the first worship service, 9:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. There are dates available in September and October. To sign up online, simply add your name and email address to the sign-up sheet found here: goo.gl/Xz5T79. If you have questions, please contact the church office.

Spread the love of St. Paul's by delivering flowers to those who are in need of a little extra cheer. A sign-up sheet is available in the church office. Flower Delivery people collect a bunch of flowers from the Sanctuary following the 10:30 a.m. worship service, then use a map and card provided to stop by the home of a church member or friend. It's an easy, family-friendly way to minister to our faith community. Please contact the church office or Ginny Hagberg if you have any questions.

If our Heritage Sunday celebration in April sparked your interest, you can find the book The Spirit of Methodism in Kensington on sale in the church office during the week. The St. Paul's history book is an award-winning trove of information about St. Paul's and is full of historical photos and interesting stories, recounting everything from musical performances at the White House to cream pies being thrown at a former pastor. The cost is $10.