Dear Friends,

With Thanksgiving upon us tomorrow, now is a fine time to reflect on the many blessings of life. We have all experienced countless changes over the past years. Some have been positive, many have been hard. As we reflect back, we can appreciate ever more deeply our families, friends, and our extraordinary Old North church community. We have been through much together, always embraced in the never-failing love of God.

We are mindful as well that as many of us gather around Thanksgiving tables this year, others find themselves in very different circumstances—in this country and certainly around the world. Please take time over the next several days to pray for those who are suffering—whether because of personal illness or loss, or due to war and violent conflict. It is not easy to be part of the human family sometimes.

In my previous parish, there was a long tradition of holding an interfaith Thanksgiving service each year organized by the several faith communities in town. It was always one of my favorite events of the year, bringing together people of diverse backgrounds. Among the traditions for that service was reading Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863. Until the Civil War, the dates for celebrating Thanksgiving varied from state to state. President Lincoln invited the nation, as one people together on the same day, to give thanks to God for blessings bestowed, while also asking “humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience.”

It is extraordinary to think that even in the midst of war people were urged to thank God, and pray, in Lincoln’s words, for “all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union.” We could use the same prayers today, for our nation and world, so torn by disagreement, division, and hurt.

Lincoln’s proclamation, even in the midst of war, reminds us that wherever we are, whomever we are with, we have the opportunity give thanks. We can give thanks for life. We can give thanks for love. We can give thanks for the gift of faith, which sustains us when life is hard and makes joy even more profound. Happy Thanksgiving.

Blessings,

Matthew+

Here is a prayer I prepared for one of the Interfaith Thanksgiving services:

Most gracious God, by whose knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew: We yield hearty thanks and praise for the gifts of seedtime and harvest, for the increase of the ground and the gathering in of its fruits, and for all the other blessings of your merciful providence bestowed upon this nation and people. We thank you for the blessing of family and friends, and for the loving care that surrounds us on every side. We thank you also for the faith we have inherited in all its rich variety. It sustains our life, though we have been faithless time and again. Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work you have begun in us. Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice, and to abolish poverty, crime, and war. And finally, hasten the day when we, and all your people, with many voices in one united chorus, may glorify your Name and humbly and obediently walk before you; in your sacred presence and in gratitude for your immeasurable love, we pray. Amen.

Every year on the last Sunday after Pentecost, our bell ringers attempt a "Full Peal."

As many know, the Old North bells are rung each Sunday after worship using English-style "change ringing" which involves ringing bells in predefined sequences of "changes" or permutations. A full peal is a non-stop sequence of a minimum of 5,000 changes where each sequence is different and cannot be repeated on seven or more bells. This takes around three hours to ring and is the bell ringers’ equivalent of a marathon, requiring concentration and stamina to complete the peal.

Peals are often rung for special celebrations, such as Royal births or weddings or to mark

local events, or just for pleasure. Ringers enjoy ringing peals for the sense of achievement

provided and for the highest possible standard of ringing that can often be achieved during

such long periods. At Old North, a full peal is rung twice a year. One of those attempts is traditionally held the Last Sunday after Pentecost.

This coming Sunday -- after church and throughout the afternoon, the North End will be filled with the sound of bells ringing out from our steeple. We send our wonderful bell ringers best wishes for a fun and successful bell ringing "marathon!"

Sunday, December 3 is Stewardship Ingathering Sunday. Please bring your pledge card or mail it to the church office: 193 Salem Street, Boston, 02113, attn: Priscilla. Pledges can also be sent to Priscilla via email. Knowing what parishioners plan to give during 2024 will allow us to create a realistic budget for the year ahead. Your generosity enables us to grow into our mission as a beacon of love, liberty and justice.

As we enter Advent -- the season of preparation -- parishioner Robyn Bostrom has kindly offered to spend a bit of time after the 11am service on Sunday, December 3 -- the First Sunday of Advent -- to polish the silver communion service and other pieces. Since we were unable to hold our annual brass polishing event, the group will also polish some of the smaller brass items.

Please plan to join Robyn and others one week from this coming Sunday to begin preparing our altar for Advent and Christmas.

Beginning at 8:30am on Saturday, December 9, we will gather for our annual outdoor greening of the campus. Many hands make light work ... and also holiday F-U-N!!! Please plan to spend a very special morning with us as we hang roping and wreaths. All are welcome for the morning ... or for an hour or two, depending on availability. We will gather around 8:30am and finish when we finish ... hopefully by noon at the latest.

This will be a great opportunity to meet Brian Vasser, our wonderful new sexton!! Please plan to be with us two weeks from this coming Saturday ... we need you!!

On Sunday, December 10, we will have a service of Advent Lessons and Carols at 11am. This beautiful service will be followed by a very festive coffee hour reception to honor Dr. Libor Dudas and celebrate his twenty-five years as Old North's Director of Music. Please plan to join us on this special day.

Click here to register.

Our Bible Study of the Book of Michah has concluded. We will resume Bible Study next week -- on Wednesday, November 29 when we will consider Advent readings we often hear.

Our friends invite us to join them Thursday, December 14, live on Zoom at 7pm to hear about discoveries made during the recent crypt renovation project.

Jane Lyden Rousseau, an osteoarchaeologist and burials specialist who worked on this unique project, will speak about the intriguing finds she and others found during the recent renovation project, and how this work was conducted without disturbance to the burials.

Click here to register.