November always brings thoughts of Thanksgiving. This year the Sunday school is especially thankful for our new service time. We would like to thank everyone for supporting and trying this change. Enrollment in our classes has increased dramatically. We have had many new families join us, as well as families that have struggled to attend in years past due to the early hour of the service. In the past few weeks, around 120 children and youth have been attending classes on Sunday mornings; that amount is about 40 more children than this time last year. Enrollment is up, along with attendance, but those things aren’t the most important reasons we are thankful this month. The children have always been a joy to see on Sundays, but now they are radiant. It’s amazing what that extra hour of sleep has done. They are awake (and fed), and ready to participate. Over the year, we are hoping to share with you some of the wonderful spiritual thoughts that these children have in their classes. Thank you for supporting this experimental time change, and let’s see what the future holds. Thank you again to the wonderful group of teachers leading the Sunday school this year. Words can’t describe how important you are in the lives of these children. Your creativity in bringing these lessons to life is amazing. Thank you for all those extra miles you go for the youth of St. Paul’s. We welcome our newest 4th grade teacher Laura Martorelli who has filled our last opening. Thank you Laura; we’re enjoying having you on board with us.

Finally, a thank you to everyone who made our first community service project a success. Each year, we have painted pumpkins for the Habitat for Humanity dinner. “Pumpkin Sunday” has become our favorite project. We learn about the importance of helping others and then do what we do best- create. Thank you to all the teachers who helped get these pumpkins completed, as well as the parents who helped out that day. A special thank you to Mimi Dyer for setting this up, Doug MacPherson and Bill Healy for delivering and moving 100 pumpkins, and our teen helpers John deRochambeau, and Katarina Gillis for doing “whatever needed to be done” in our messy project. I hope everyone got to enjoy the talents of the students of St. Paul’s.

I am truly thankful for the community of St. Paul’s and invite all children age three and older to join our classes on Sunday mornings. Remember friends are always welcome.