Newsletter, November 2025

 

From Rev. Kevin Campbell

 

Halloween brings fun and a bit of mischief, but it really tells us All Saints Day is just around the corner. “Why do we neglect,” John Wesley wrote in his journal, “giving honor to the saints?” Why indeed? Because we don’t notice them, I suspect. At least, that is part of the answer. We aren’t tuned into the saintly, or, at times, we are offended or scandalized by them. “Saintly” becomes a slur, in a way, or a way to dismiss someone. Yet we are drawn to them, to those who seem saintly. We are drawn to those who have a secret knowledge or relationship we don’t have. We are drawn to those who seem grounded, confident, at peace. We are in awe of, or a little afraid of, those we identify as saints. But should we be?

A saint, according to the New Testament anyway, is not someone who is flawless or a super believer or doer. A saint is one who claims Christ and then seeks to emulate him according to the grace given. In other words, all of us. All those who come to church or wish they could, all those who claim faith in Jesus, all those who struggle and fail, and all those who struggle and succeed—all of us, in other words. We are saints. And so are those who worship with us. Those who drop their kids off for children or youth programs. Those who stand in line with us at the potluck. Those in our small groups and our committee meetings. Those who fold the bulletins and stuff the finance letters. Those who picked up the litter that blew in from the shopping center and those who didn’t even notice it there. Those who sing the hymns, hear the words, and pray the prayers with us week by week. The saints are all around us. They are us.

During All Saints Sunday we will remember and honor our own saints. We remember those who started us on or helped us along the path of faith. As we prepared for the Interfaith Church Tour, Lorraine helped gather histories of those named in our stained-glass windows. These are the saints who built the church and are part of our shared legacy. Ora Moss-Morgan’s downtown home was the center of many civic activities, and she was the organist and choir director of our church. Rev. John W. Edgell was pastor when the current sanctuary and Pioneer Room were built. Dr. Homer Rose, founder of the Sonora Hospital, and his wife Rose were very active in the church. Samuel Wallis, retired postal worker, was president of the Methodist Men. Miss Maude May was a school and Sunday School teacher. Rev. David Deal lived in a tent while the church and parsonage were built on the land purchased from J. P. Yaney. A group of Cornish miners dug out the basement on their days off. These are just a few of the many saints whose ministry in Sonora created the church we call home.

We would not be the people of faith that we are today without our saints. We wouldn’t be Sonora United Methodist Church without the work of the saints of our community who left us this legacy. Remembering these saints inspires us to one day be one too.

 

Here are the scripture readings and sermon titles for November.

 

Nov 2: All Saints Sunday

           Giving Honor to the Saints"

           2 Thessalonians 1: 1-4, 11-12

 

Nov 9: "Take Courage"

            Haggai 1:15b--2:9

 

Nov 16: "Rethinking Old Age"

              Isaiah 65: 17-25

 

Nov 23: Christ the King Sunday

             "Good or Bad Shepherd"

             Jeremiah 23: 1-6

 

Nov 30: 1st Sunday of Advent

              "Impossible Dreams"

               Isaiah 2: 1-5

 

 

On November 2nd we will celebrate All Saints Sunday.  I will be asking you to think about those who have shared the love of God with you and kindled your faith and nurtured your relationship with Jesus.  Thanking God, we share our appreciation for the saints in our lives.  We will bring items that remind us of our saints and tell their stories during worship.  We rekindle the gift when we acknowledge those who have brought us to this place. We rekindle the gift when we recommit ourselves to following in Jesus' steps, to engaging in the work of discipleship.  Bring an item to display during worship to create a joyful day of worship.

 

Remember that daylight saving ends on Nov 2nd also.

 

Shalom

Pastor Kevin

 

            

                Coming Activities 

 

Beans, Rice and Jesus Christ Free Community Dinner every Thursday, 3:30 to 4:30 pm. Main dish, salad, dessert and drink for anyone who wants to come.  On Thanksgiving day the meal will begin at 3 pm.and last until 4:30 pm

See the article below on how you can join in and help.

 

Fridays: 2 pm Bible Study using the Upper Room devotional booklet. Good discussions about how to be a Christian in the modern world.

 

Sunday, November 2 All Saints Day.  11:30 am.  Bring items that remind you of a saint in your life  and tell their story during worship.

 

Saturday, November 8: Rummage Sale: 8 am to 2 pm  Multi family sale in the church fellowship hall. Items are not priced. Donate what the item is worth to you.  See the Women’s Fellowship article for more information.

 

Wednesday, November 12: Our Annual Charge Conference at Sonora, 2 pm. This  annual meeting  is with the Tuolumne/Soulsbyville Congregation and our District Superintendent, and provides the report to the California Nevada United Methodist Conference.

 

Thanksgiving Day, November 27, 3 - 4:30 pm All church members are invited to join in the turkey and trimmings dinner  in our Fellowship Hall.

Check the Hallway bulletin board or call Janice to see how you can help or what you can bring.

 

Decorate the Church for Advent and Christmas, 

    Friday, Nov 28 at 10 am

 

Sunday, November 30 After the worship service we will have a potluck luncheon and then the monthly church council meeting.  This is a change from the 4th Sunday of the month to the last Sunday.

 

Christmas eve service, Wednesday, December 24 at 2 pm. This is a time of hearing the story of Christmas through readings from the Bible and the Singing of Christmas carols.  This is a beautiful candlelight service.  We are holding it in the afternoon, so people don’t have to drive in the dark and for families with young children.

 

 

                Women’s Fellowship

Greetings All, 

Here we are a few short weeks from Thanksgiving already, so I'd like to share some things I am grateful for. The big one, is all of you. Our church family never fails to give above and beyond what is asked. Once again, we ended up with over 100 more hot dogs and buns than requested for our annual Trunk or Treat dinner! We also had more volunteers than those who signed up. Thank you all for your generosity that fed nearly 200, with plenty left over for Beans and Rice and Jesus Christ. Next, we have had numerous donations for our fall rummage sale and people willing to help during this busy time. It also seems like we will be collecting more shoe box gift boxes than last year,  as well. I am also grateful for our dedicated monthly cookers and our fellowship time together. I am grateful for reminders from God. There have been so many busy times, That I  have run across the Bible verses that tell us to never weary of doing good. It seems that this verse pops up just when I need to hear it the most. I could go on more with gratitude, those are just a few. Hoping everyone has much to be thankful for all year.

 

This Saturday, 11/1 we will do our final sort for our rummage sale at 1pm. We could use some more household items, tools, kitchenware. Please let me know if you can help sort, set up, or on sale day. Setup is Friday 11/7 starting at 10am with moving items from upstairs and/or around 1pm to finish setting up. The sale is on Saturday, 11/8 from 8am until 2pm. 

 

On the day of the sale we have our morning shift of 8 to 10am  covered. If you are able to help with 10 to noon or noon to 2, or with cleanup, please let me know. We will also be doing a simple chili for our monthly cooking during the sale starting around 9 or 9:30.

 

Operation Christmas Child shoe box gift boxes are due Sunday, 11/23. 

Thank you all again for sharing your time, talents and funds for all these events! I am grateful for all of you!

 

Blessings, 

Karla Wasson 

 

        

    Beans, Rice and Jesus Christ Community Dinner

 

Dear Friends, 

The leaves are turning brilliant reds and yellows and falling to the ground. It's time to begin thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas and what,

how, when, and who will help out to serve the homeless, the food insecurity people, the lonely ones who do not have family and friends to share the holidays with, and our own church family? We will! Everyone is invited. 

 

This year, Thanksgiving falls on October 27th. BRJC will be open to serve from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. We've added an additional half an hour so that people can come a little bit earlier and start having crackers and cheese and dips and socialize before the main meal starts at 3:30pm.

 

Christmas this year falls on aThursday.  

We will be open from 3:00pm to 4:30pm. We will have presents to give away and hopefully a gift-certificate from a fast food restaurant.  Dinner will start around 3:30pm.

 

We will have sign up papers for those who would like to donate certain food items for the holidays. Monetary gifts are greatly accepted. Also if you can help prepare, serve or clean up this would be greatly appreciated.  Together, we can bring the gift of sharing to others. Like Jesus said," love God with your whole heart, mind and soul and  treat others like you want to be treated."

 

Lets help make this a joyous and blessed holiday for all.  How often I have heard- thank you not only  from the recipients but the workers who have also been touched by this humbling experience . 

 

Love, peace and joy to all. 

 

Janice Samuels Johnson

 

November Anniversaries

 

11/7 Jerry & Lois O’Day

 

November birthdays

 

11/22 Loisi Hursky

11/29 Karla Wasson

11/30 Laura Mansfield