October at St. Cross: Guest Preacher, Movie Night, Halloween and More

Reminder: Office Closed on Monday, October 11 for National Holiday.

Guest Preacher This Sunday, October 10th as part of Virginia Theological Seminary’s 200th anniversary celebration. (VTS is where all three of your current priests were educated). Please join us in person and online as Dr. Jefferson preaches the Word of God to us!

Virginia Theological Seminary will be celebrating its Bicentennial in 2023. As part of the activities and programs celebrating this milestone in the Seminary’s history, Dr. Jefferson has taken on the task of preaching 200 sermons in the five years leading up to the Bicentennial. He is currently more than halfway through that goal, having preached in churches across the U.S. From small congregations in rural America to Washington National Cathedral, Dr. Jefferson has been preaching the Gospel.

The Rev. Mark Andrew Jefferson, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Homiletics and the Associate Director of the Deep Calls to Deep Preaching Program at Virginia Theological Seminary. He received his M.Div. from Candler School of Theology at Emory University and holds his Ph.D. in religion focusing on Homiletics from Emory University. Dr. Jefferson’s preaching, scholarship, and engagement with popular culture outline his commitment to be a public theologian. The critical engagement of the American social imagination and African American socio-political enfranchisement and empowerment are areas of concentration for Dr. Jefferson’s life and work.

Youth Movie Night | Friday, Oct. 15, 7-9pm
Middle school and high school youth (Rite 13, J2A, CNC) are invited to join us for St. Cross Movie Night outside in the Garth! We’ll have a screen and sound set-up — all you need to bring is a lawn chair and your favorite snack and we’ll watch a movie underneath the stars. The theme is movies from the 90s — will some of the classics from this great cinematic period hold up with the youth of today??? Movie options include: Hook, Sandlot, Remember the Titans, Cool Runnings, Back to the Future, and E.T. (ok we slipped a couple 80s movies in there too). Youth can vote on which movie they prefer (email Rev. Stephen or drop a note by the office) no later than Wednesday of next week. We’ll watch the movie with the most votes on Oct. 15 and see if it holds up with today’s youth. Hope your teen can make it!

Parent Meeting | Sunday, Oct. 17, after church
All parents are welcome to join us on Oct. 17th for the first parent meeting of the year. Our St. Cross parent group provides a space for parents and guardians to connect and share in the experience of parenting and raising a family. The first meeting will be a time to discuss topics the group would like to cover and how we’ll structure the meetings moving forward. We will meet directly after church and child care will be available.

Halloween Festivities | Sunday, Oct. 31, 11:15 am after church
Children and youth (and parents!), put on your Halloween costume and join us for church on the morning of All Hallow’s Eve! All are invited to wear their costumes to church that Sunday. After the service there will be Halloween festivities for families.

Sock Sunday which we usually have during the month of October has switched to “Undie Sunday.” There will be no more puppets to remind you to bring said items, lol. However we hope you will bring men’s underwear (especially sizes L and XL) and women’s sports bras in all sizes. This is for the shower ministry at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Long Beach. We will have baskets out to collect in the following weeks (separate from the collections for the animal shelters).

Looking Further Ahead…

Adult Pilgrimage to Israel. The Rev. Laurel Coote is interested in our two parishes joining for a pilgrimage to Israel. This will be similar to the sites we saw last time, and it will be with Qumri pilgrimages again. The dates are Feb 10-21,2023. Please email Rev. Rachel if you are interested [email protected]