ST. PAUL'S STEWARDSHIP AND MISSIONS December 2008 Members of the Stewardship & Missions committee are busily preparing for the Christmas season. On Sunday, November 16th shopping bags were distributed to the congregation so they could be filled and returned on November 23. All donated food items will be passed on to area food banks so their shelves can be stocked for those in need for the holiday season. Several families have been identified for the annual Christmas Families project. The tree will be trimmed and tags will be available for church members to take for members of each needy family. Church members can purchase the gift suggested on the tag that they take or they can contribute cash toward gift certificates. Please return all gifts and contributions to the church by Sunday, December 21 so that they can be delivered. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all! Trott, Jeff and Kathryn Loveland, Abbe Kennedy, Karen Walton, and Ellen Markel   Projects During the Year Ongoing Projects - Collect and deliver paper products to Response, food items for Bread of Life Food Pantry, and provide occasional short-term aid to needy individuals. August - Collect bags of school supplies purchased during August sales and deliver them to the Shenandoah County Schools for distribution to needy students. September - Volunteers from St. Paul's and Mt. Calvary travel to New Windsor, MD, where they spend the day unpacking, inspecting, pricing and repacking items for the SERRV gift shop. October - Generous donations are taken for Homewood and the Hoffman Homes for Youth. These donations come from the Harvest Home offering, given during our joint fall Harvest Home service and dinner at Mt. Calvary. December - Our St. Paul's Family Christmas Tree project aides needy families, providing wrapped gifts and cash, with which we purchase a Food Lion and a Wal-Mart gift certificate for each family. February - Deliver bags of food items collected on Shopping Bag Sunday half to the Shenandoah Alliance for Shelter and half to the Bread of Life Food Pantry. March - Send money collected for One Great Hour of Sharing. Gifts to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering provide emergency relief, promote sustainable development, and enable people to build better lives for their families and communities. Nine denominations and Church World Service join together in this offering. Like the gifts of God, our gifts multiply as we share. April/May - With congregational assistance, we choose and publicize a Heifer International Project.

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