Great Preacher Award
Aquinas Institute of Theology has, since 1995, annually awarded the Great Preacher Award to one or two deserving honorees, usually a priest or bishop, sometimes an educator of preaching. Many will recall that former pastor Fr. O’Toole received the honor a few years ago; a few years before that our current pastor Fr. Vien received the award.
This year the committee is expanding what it means to be a preacher of the Word and is awarding the honor to not only Fr. Chris Martin, but also to… St. Margaret of Scotland Music Ministry! This truly is a wonderful recognition of the success that our music ministry has had over the last four decades and more, and how it continues to thrive and look forward to many more years of evangelization, ministry, and service.
The award will formally be given at a banquet on Thursday, November 14, at the Frontenac Hilton. All SMOS will be invited to claim a seat in the hall, so watch this space and others for more information as the date grows closer!
For more information: ai.edu/gpa.
New Gather Hymnal Update
The new Gather hymnals have arrived, thanks to the generosity of our recent Giving Tuesday donors, and will appear in the pews any day now. So, don’t be surprised when your favorite dark blue songbook is suddenly replaced by your new favorite grey-blue songbook.
But more than just a songbook, these new Gather books also contain the readings for every Sunday and significant holiday in our calendar. So, when you see these new books, also look for a new four-digit number on our hymn number boards. That will direct you to where you can find the readings, should you need to follow along as they are proclaimed aloud.
We will keep the pew missalettes until the current edition expires, and then they will be retired. We will keep the subscription to the larger print missalettes and will even be ordering a few more (though it may take a couple of seasons to get that order adjusted to a new “right” number).
New (To Us) Piano
Sharper eyes (and ears!) might have noticed that we have a new-to-SMOS piano in the music ministry area, which arrived here on April 5. Our previous piano, given to SMOS by a generous donation many years ago by the Merideth family, was over 100 years old and had reached a point where the maintenance on the piano ceased to be cost effective for the parish. We were fortunate to not only find a fine piano, a 1996 Kawai RX3, to replace it, but also to achieve the acquisition through some remaining funds from the Gather hymnal project, a significant trade-in offer, and several private donations, including from the SMOS Ladies’ Auxiliary, the Hesed family, the Hammond/Johnson family, and other anonymous gifts. We acquired the piano from Jackson Pianos here in town, after falling in love with the tone and touch, as well as Jackson’s service and warranty! We were also able to purchase a dolly to make the piano easier to move and covers for the piano to protect its case and strings. Thanks to all who made this project possible! Stay tuned for a special time of prayer soon to welcome and bless both the new hymnals and the new piano.
