WEEKLY MESSAGE 

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Today we celebrate St. Nicholas’ day. But do you know who he was? What is significant about him and what impact does he have on our Christmas season?

St. Nicholas lived during the 3rd- 4th Century in what we now call modern day Turkey. His wealthy parents died when he was fairly young. Instead to keeping the wealth all for himself, he learned to share his wealth and generosity with others and he became a generous giver. He was known as a gift-giver and life-giver. There are legends about him demonstrating kindness to others by providing generosity to the poor, the children, the sailors and beyond.

One of the most famous stories about St. Nicholas is about a poor family who agreed to sell their young daughters into prostitution in order to keep the family afloat. Nicholas heard about the family’s situation and secretively placed gold in their house. The money was then used for dowry for each of the daughters, saving them from living out an action against their conscience and providing life for them through his generous gift.

There is also a legend about three young boys being lured into a butcher shop during a famine in order to be killed and put into large pickled wooden barrels in order to be sold as ham. St. Nicholas rescues them from the wooden barrels.

Perhaps these stories portray reasons why St. Nicholas became the Patron Saint of Children and Virgins. Because of his kindness and life-giving attitude, he fought for justice and set people free to live life to the fullest.

Finally, it is from St. Nicholas that we get the name Santa Claus. In the Netherlands is the legend Sinterklaas, a linguistic expression of the saint’s name – a man who remained strong and influenced the colonies New Amsterdam (New York), where his name became Santa Claus.

Bishop McGregor

PLEASE PRAY

For the sick:  Audley, Bernadette, Beverly, Bob, Carol, Carmen, Cathey, Danny, Dennis, Dudley, Elsa, Emily, Evelyn, Gavin, Glenn, Gloria, Iris, Jameson, Jim, Kyle, Lloyd, Logan, Mary Ann, Megan, Michael G., Michael M., Pat, The Rev. Dr. Patsy, Pearl, Peggy, Phyllis, Rohan, Ronald, Shelley, Taj, Tom, Tanner, Teresa, Tom, Violet.

For birthday celebrations: Connie Hunter, Ivy Newton, Nicholas Webber, Joseph Servos, Robert Bresnahan.

For our search committee: Howard Barrett, Jenifer Elmore, Janice Jacques, Kristi Lee, Sera Peat, Yvonne Wolliston, Cecil Wray.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Sandwiches for St. George’s: Please bring your sandwiches to St. David’s west side parking lot on Wednesday mornings from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

Hospitality Hour is scheduled after the 10:00 a.m. service – Hosted by the Congregation. Please bring a dish and beverage to share. Next week will be hosted by the ECW.

2025 Offering Envelopes and Calendars. Please pick up your envelope and calendar (one per family) in the narthex.

New Members Course. Our last meeting is being held on Sunday after the 10:00 a.m. service.

Stockings of the Stars Christmas Outreach Project. I am no longer surprised but still constantly amazed at the generosity of St. David’s parishioners! We only have 9 children unclaimed, out of the 40 we started with! If you want to get in on the action, please call or text me letting me know which child you would like. First come, first served. Joyce Parker at 561-312-2719.

 8      Floyd Collins                   1 year old Boy

10      Zyon Holloway                 1 year old Boy

11      Jayden Smith                  1 year old Boy

13     Harmony Stephenson     1 year old Girl

15     Amari Henry                      2 year old Boy

16     A’kari Lockhart                  2 year old Boy

17     Marcell Sharpe                 2 year old Boy

18     Syn’Cere Smith                 2 year old Boy

33     Rahmah Hossain            4 year old Girl

The Village of Wellington 40^th Annual Holiday Parade is on Sunday, December 8^th. Parking available at St. David’s parking lot for $10.00. Parking will open at 11:45 a.m.

Christmas Flowers. We are collecting donations of $25.00 for Christmas flowers starting this week. Please fill in a form and leave it in the bag on the credenza or put it in the plate. The deadline is Monday, December 16^th.

Church Decoration and Clean Up is scheduled for Saturday, December 7^th at 9:00 a.m. We will continue to decorate on Sunday, December 15th after the coffee hour.

ECW meeting is scheduled on Saturday, December 14^th. Our service this month is to help clean up and decorate the church starting at 8:30 a.m., followed by our business meeting at 11:15 a.m. in the Parish Hall.

St. David’s Annual Christmas Concert is scheduled on Sunday, December 15^th at 4:00 p.m. A reception to follow in the Parish Hall. There will be a sign-up sheet on Sunday outside the church doors for donations for the reception.  Suggested donations of $20.00.

Healing Service is scheduled on Sunday, December 15^th immediately after the 10:00 a.m. service in the church.

St. David’s Live Nativity is scheduled on Saturday, December 21^st from 6:15 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Volunteers of all ages are needed to play the various roles and to help out behind the scenes for our annual Live Nativity. Call or text Jenifer Elmore at 561-601-3346 to sign up or get more information.

Baptism will be held on Sunday, January 12, 2025 at the 10 a.m. service. Please contact Katie Waters at katiewaters@hotmail.com, or the church office at 561-793-1976 for more details. Families need to be registered by Sunday, December 29th.

Sunday school is open and available for children starting at age 3 years old.

Bible Study at 9:00 a.m. is scheduled on Sunday in the Sunday school classroom.

Women’s Bible Study is scheduled on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. in the Mark Room.

Tuesdays: Holy Eucharist/Morning Prayer at 8:30 a.m.

Sunday’s Worship – We are open for live worship on Sundays at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. We also “live-stream” our 10 a.m. service.

Video Viewing Options for Sunday’s mass. There are three different ways to view our videos: 1) our church website; 2) our Facebook page; and 3) our YouTube channel. See the links listed below.

This Week at St. David’s in the Pines

Tuesday – 8:30 am: Holy Eucharist/Morning Prayer

Wednesday – 8:30 am – 9:30 am: Sandwiches for St. George’s

(Please bring your sandwiches to St. David’s west side parking lot)

Sunday – 8:00 am – Worship Service

9:00 am – Bible Study

10:00 am – Worship Service (Hospitality hour to follow)

10:00 am – Sunday School

11:30 am – Women’s Bible Study

OPPORTUNITIES FOR GIVING

There are several options that safely and efficiently expedite your generous donations:

1. Electronic bank transfers or automatic bank transfers via personal accounts or credit/debit cards;
2. Personal checks delivered by USPS;
3. Online through our website or at https://www.myEoffering.com;
4. Yearly offering envelopes during worship service. (Please do NOT leave any envelopes with checks/cash unattended at church mailboxes.)

Music Director and Organist: Joe Brabham

Office Administrator: Yvonne Elliott

Sexton: Glenn Bresnahan

Vestry Members: Howard Barrett (Senior Warden); John “Jay” Webber (Junior Warden); Dennis Wright (Treasurer); Chris LaBorde (Secretary); Laurette Bagley; Kenneth Barnett; Jenifer Elmore; Matthew Hogan; Karlene Kiminyo; Linda McKeown; Irene Oknewski; Yvonne Wolliston.