Middletown Valley Food Bank
Middletown Valley Food Bank (MVFB) has particular needs for toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, toiletries, and any / all food stuffs. Our Outreach Team has extended a challenge to donate 60 food & toiletry items each month in 2026. For the first week of November, we gave 14 items, 12 rolls of toilet paper and 2 rolls of paper towels! We have exceeded our goal every month this year – let’s keep it going! Thank you for offering these gifts of care for our community.
Adult Education Group
This informal group is held at 9:00 AM in the Memorial Hall. It is open to everyone and all are welcome. Come and share a donut and coffee as we discuss books about our faith. The book being discussed next is Formed by Love (Church's Teachings for a Changing World) by Scott Bader-Saye.
Wednesday Game Nights ~ November 18th
We’ll be having another Wednesday game nights this Fall – on 11/18 – at 5:30pm in Memorial Hall. Dinner will be provided and bring a game to share.
Community Thanksgiving Service – November 22
There will be a Community Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, November 22nd, combined with the installation of The Rev. Greg Shook at Christ Reformed in Middletown. Worship will begin at 3:00pm.
Parish Visit from Episcopal Relief and Development
Mark your calendars for Sunday, November 15th – The President and CEO of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), Dr, Rob Radtke. ERD is a non-profit supported by Transfiguration’s Outreach Committee, and their main mission is: to partners with faith and community leaders to advance lasting change in communities affected by injustice, poverty, disaster and climate change. ERD collaborates with local experts, provides resources and programming that nurture early childhood development, reduce violence against women and girls, strengthen communities’ resilience to climate change and provide support in the wake of disasters (https://www.episcopalrelief.org/).
A Short Biography for Dr. Rob Radtke
Dr. Radtke has served as President & CEO of Episcopal Relief & Development since 2005. Prior to that he served in various senior-level posts at the Asia Society. Rob provides strategic leadership to the agency’s programs in over 40 countries serving more than 4 million people across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia, as well as the United States.
Rob was a founding trustee of the Anglican Alliance for Development, Relief & Advocacy. He also served on the board of the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith & Local Communities and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2023 the Archbishop of Canterbury awarded him the Cross of St. Augustine for Services to the Anglican Communion.
Rob has a Bachelor’s Degree (AB) from Columbia College of Columbia University and a doctorate (DPhil) from New College of the University of Oxford, which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar. In 2012, Episcopal Divinity School awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Divinity Degree.
CHURCH OF THE TRANSFIGURATION CHRISTMAS GIVING TREE
Our Giving Tree will be in place in the Narthex from the first Sunday of Advent, November 29 through January 3. Sleep in Heavenly Peace (SHP), a local nonprofit that builds beds for local children who have none, has been very appreciative of our gifts in the past. We will support them, again, this year.
How You Can Help
Sleep in Heavenly Peace is an all volunteer organization. Their volunteer crews meet to build twin beds and bunkbeds in their “build barn” in Adamstown. Each bed needs a full set of new bedding which is delivered with the beds.
To participate:
• Take one of the information sheets in the basket under the tree for easy reference
• Purchase bedding for a regular twin bed. All items must be new and in original packaging.
• Your contribution may include any or all of these bedding items:
Twin sheets and pillow case, twin comforter, twin blanket, pillows
• Bring your new item(s) to the church between the first Sunday of Advent and January 3.
• Place your unwrapped items in the large gift-wrapped boxes near the Giving Tree.
If you prefer to make a monetary contribution, please write a check to Church of the Transfiguration and put Sleep in Heavenly Peace on the memo line. Place it in the collection any Sunday between now and New Years Day. Funds will go to Sleep in Heavenly Peace to purchase building materials. The Outreach Committee will deliver your donations to SHP on or about January 5, 2027. To learn more about SHP and their mission, visit https://shpbeds.org/chapter/md-frederick-co/.
MVPHP 2026 Holiday Craft Fair
Again, this year, the MVPHP 2026 Holiday Craft Fair will feature a raffle basket created by Jacqui Pieterse. The basket is overflowing with Italian kitchen implements, linens and serving vessels, and foods. Jacqui also will include an original painting of a Tuscan scene she created. Mark your calendars and plan to attend the event to raise funds for MVPHP’s community programs. Take a chance to win the delightful Italian basked or one of many others contributed by other community members.