Dear Members and Friends of the Congregation,

Some things to pass along to you:

1. You may still return your Time and Talent Sheets in on any Sunday, for a while.  We had one returned recently that was not signed.   This person indicated they were interested in serving on the Witness Committee.  We need this person to not be shy, come forward and tells us again who you are, before we allow you to witness to others. 
2. All Saints Sunday is this Sunday, November 1.  As we all know, we have had more than our fair share of deaths in the congregation in 2020.  We will be remembering all those who have gone on to be with the Lord since last year’s All Saints Sunday.  They include:

Dianne Cotney Calloway    February 4, 2020

Lawrence Earl Brown    February 8, 2020

Gaither Gibson Blackwelder    February 12, 2020

Shirley Foy Hall    February 12, 2020

Richard Dean Williams    March 14, 2020

George A. “Beefie” Davis   March 28, 2020

Eloise Bland Fischer     April 6, 2020

Pamela Lee Whitt     May 20, 2020

Hattie Mae Lever     June 4, 2020

Margery Elaine Howell Rummage     July 3, 2020

Mary Elizabeth Williams    September 13, 2020

James Bryan Hill   September 25, 2020

John Wesley Dickson, Jr.     October 17, 2020

Betty Vanesse   October 18, 2020

1. Don’t forget the time change Sunday and set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed Saturday night.  We wouldn’t want you to miss out on another hour of sleep, unnecessarily.
2. The Angel Tree will be in the Narthex Sunday for the first time.
3. The Messenger was mailed out yesterday, Wednesday.  Please make sure and read over the article on the changes to our upcoming Congregational Meeting on Sunday, November 8, due to COVID.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Fischer

Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting will take place on November 8. Details are still in the works to keep the congregation safe due to Covid -19.

1) Electing four new Council Members for a 3-year term.

2) Approving the 2021 Church Budget.

 

With the threat of COVID-19 and in order to practice social distancing, we will be conducting our Semi-Annual Congregational Meeting on Sunday, November 8 in a different manner. According to our Church Bylaws, proxies and absentee ballots are not permissible for this meeting so we have decided to be a little creative in order to meet safely to conduct the business of the congregation. We have decided that we will still have our Congregational Meeting on November 8, but NOT during the Sunday School hour and NOT in Fellowship Hall.
Instead, our meeting will take place at both the Early and Late Services that day during the worship service. At the designated time during the service, we will take 5-10 minutes to complete the voting process to elect new council members and to approve a budget for 2021. In order to make this happen, you have a little homework on your part to complete before the meeting. You have a list of the eight Council nominees as part of this bulletin (electing four), and you will receive the nominees again, as well as the budget as part of the November Messenger, as in years past. However, to vote on the budget, is a little more of a challenge since we will not be able to handle discussions as part of the congregational meeting. Along with the budget you will receive a sheet explaining the basic changes to next year’s budget compared to this year’s budget. If you have any questions or comments, you are asked to contact Diane Richardson, our church treasurer, and she will go over your budget questions, before the Congregational Meeting. Since the budget has already gone through the Support Committee and the Church Council, and next year’s proposed budget is slightly different from this year’s, we will be voting to approve the church budget with a simple yes or no answer as part of the meeting. In the unlikely event, that there happens to be a tie in the voting process for new council members, we will have a tie breaker vote the following Sunday on November 15. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in this time of COVID-19. Our goal is to take care of the business of the congregation in an efficient and safe manner. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Pastor Fischer.

Dear Members and Friends of Holy Trinity,

I usually send these updates out on Thursday but several items cannot wait until then.

• The funeral service for Betty Vanesse will be on Thursday, October 22 at the Sosebee Funeral Home on South Main Street.  The public is invited to visit with the family from 3:00-4:00 p.m. prior to the service, and then at 4:00 p.m. I will be conducting a private service for the family only in their chapel.  This service will be Live Streamed on the Sosebee Facebook page.  If you would like to send a card to Betty’s son, his address is:  Jack Vanesse, 1817 Edgewood Avenue, Anderson, SC  29625.

• The memorial service for John Dickson will be on Saturday, October 24 in our sanctuary at 5:00 p.m. for the family only.  However, you may visit with the family prior to the service that day from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM outside on the portico of the Sullivan-King Funeral Home and you are invited to gather with the family at our columbarium for the inurnment service which will take place following the service around 5:50 p.m.  The memorial service will be recorded and placed on our church website and then later on the link of Sullivan-King.

• You are reminded to wear something with the color red for this Sunday, Reformation Sunday.

• We may not be singing hymns or processing or having a trumpet player like we do, due to COVID-19, but we will be celebrating Holy Communion.

• Don’t forget to bring back your Time/Talent sheets filled out and your pledge cards.  These items will be blessed as part of the service Sunday.

• Don’t forget to bring back your Trick-Or-Treat-So-Others-May-Eat bag filled with grocery items.  You may drop these off before Sunday, if you wish, by placing them in the room off the narthex, using the door code.

• You may be wondering what we will be doing concerning Christmas Eve worship services.  To practice social distancing and to keep our numbers low, we will be offering 4 CHOICES of worship services!  11:00 AM and 3:00 PM will be a family oriented service using the ABC’s of Christmas like we did last year.  At 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM we will be offering a traditional Liturgical Christmas Eve Service.  More details will be coming but in the meantime, we are asking folks who are planning to attend to “reserve a spot” to help us keep our numbers spread out.  A member of the Church Council will be contacting each family of the congregation before Thanksgiving with the details and then they are planning to call two weeks before Christmas to get commitments to help us with our planning.

• I need to let you know that Paul Wagner tested positive for COVID-19 Tuesday afternoon.  He served as the worship recorder this past Sunday morning at the Early Service but his exposure was limited to us – he wore a mask at all times, and kept his distance while he recorded.  I tell you this to keep you posted and as a precaution.  Paul is now in a 2 week quarantine.  On a side note, not really related to Paul’s update, I wanted you to know that the Health Ministry Team has a germicidal/virocidal fogger they use every time we have a worship service in the middle of the week.  For example, after Saturday’s funeral service in the sanctuary, the fogger will be used to clean the aerosol particles as well as the surfaces. 

 

In Christ,

Pastor Fischer

Dear Members and Friends of HTLC,

 

1 ) This Sunday I will preaching on the gospel reading from Matthew [22:1-14].  Some thoughts to ponder in preparation:

• In your life, what important events have you received an invitation to attend – a wedding, a graduation, a retirement celebration?
• What does it mean to get something marked in the mail “RSVP”?
• What does this parable really mean?
• What is the “proper clothing” referred to in this story?
• Reading the chapters that proceed this gospel reading will give a better context/understanding.

2) Sadly, it is time for us to let Cheryl Lane move on to her new home in Cortland, NY.  We will be doing a Rite of Farewell and Godspeed blessing at the 8:45 a.m. service if you would like to come and say goodbye this Sunday.

 

In Christ,

Pastor Fischer