Giving the gift of our treasure is our way not only to support the needs of the Church in an earthly way, but to say thank you to the Lord for all the gifts he has given us.

About a year ago, I researched just how many of our families gave and what was the breakdown. I will tell you, I have no idea what any of you give. First, I do not want to know, because I do not want to be prejudiced one way or the other. Most of you think pastors know what you give, but I speak for many of us, we do not want to know. And do not know. Secondly, your gift is between you and God. My research was dealing with the picture. One of the facts that I learned is that our parish is sustained by about 30% of our parishioners. Just imagine if every family gave something, the wonderful things we could accomplish.

If you are one of those who has a difficulty with giving for whatever reasons you may have, here are some suggestion: Give until it feels good. If it hurts to give, give until it doesn’t hurt. The pain normally goes away or you just get used to it. Think of giving not as an obligation but an opportunity to live a fuller Christian life. Give to specifics such as our building fund, adopt-a-student fund or the Good Samaritan fund. They can all use your help. But don’t forget about the Sunday collection. Finally, Think of giving as a spiritual act. When I give, I am actually praising and thanking God. The more I do for him, the closer I am to him. I understand that our treasure is difficult to part with. Protestants do a much better job of giving the gift of their treasure, but if we can learn to get past the misconceptions about the gift of treasure and selfish desire, giving to the Lord can be rewarding, joyful and fulfilling all at the same time. Like all things, it takes practice. I invite you to practice being a good steward of your treasure. I will thank you, but the Lord will not only thank you, but bless you as well.

At this year’s parish Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday, November 20th, I would like to invite those of you who have a talent for entertaining to share it with us. I invite the very young to the very old to show us what you can do. Whether you can sing or dance, can tell a joke or play a musical instrument, share your gift with us this day. The contest is open to any parishioner who would like to enter. Those at the meal will vote for a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winner. The winners will receive prizes!!

Please contact Madonna Isom at 501-514-4337 or email her at [email protected] by Monday, November 13th. Hopefully, we will get a hand full of talented people to entertain us on this very special afternoon.

The date again is Sunday, November 20th at 3PM. The show will start after everyone has eaten their meal and while most are enjoying their dessert.

I would like to try Adult Education classes this year again starting the second Sunday of December. Last year, the format worked well.

There is a box in the vestibule. Place a topic you would like to know more about and I will try and accommodate.

Everyone is invited to this one hour class. The class will be held in the Parish Center, meeting Room 2 from approximately 9:35AM until 10:45AM. Coffee and donuts will be provided.

The dates for the six classes will be held on the following dates:

All classes will be on Sunday mornings.

A big thank you to all who made this year’s Autumnfest very successful. Despite the fact that we could not have a raffle or Bingo, we did well.

The work of the Autumnfest Committee was outstanding. The committee included: John Dale, Dan Mack, Chris Davis, Marianne McElyea, Joyce Hood, Melissa House, Sylvia Lee, Toni Locke, Jane Moises and Leslie Shaw. There were countless other faithful members of the parish who helped set up, take down, man booths etc… making this year a success. I thank each of you.

On page 11 there is a breakdown of Autumnfest ’05. You will see that with the Spring Raffle and Summer Garage Sale added to the total, we made over $28,500 this year in fund raising. We will be able to make at least 3 additional principal payments from these events.

I am very proud of all of you and thank you for all you do. I am proud to be your pastor.