First Church Messenger October Newsletter 2016

Transcription

1 FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 214 Main Street South, Woodbury, CT First Church Messenger October Newsletter 2016 Dear members and friends, Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness that is what the English poet John Keats called autumn. And we are now in that season. After a summer of vacations and wanderings, we have a chance to call ourselves again to the work and joy of the church. We are a small congregation, but we are a faithful congregation. As we move in to the autumn, I hope that we can all recommit ourselves to being the people of God here in Woodbury. As you all know, during the past several years, First Congregational Church and North Congregational Church have considered the possibility of merging the congregations. At the moment, that will not be the direction the two churches take. I hope that there will be possibilities for cooperation such as our confirmation classes and adult study discussions but we must look to the ways that our own congregation can grow and sustain itself. I know that the church has spent the past several years trying different strategies to attract new members, and there probably is some fatigue about attempting something new. But I hope that we will be able to rally our spiritual resources and reconsider ways that we can bring the good news to people in Woodbury who need some good news. It is important to remember that we do not want to attract new members so that they can be on the trustees committee or make a pledge we want new members (or just worshippers!) because we believe that following Jesus and being a part of a community of His followers makes a full and rewarding life. There are a lot of people out there who need a community of faith; we have to show them that we welcome them and want to grow spiritually with them. So how can we get that message out? The church has had a Living Church Committee committed to assessing how First Church can continue independently and a committee considering the possibility of a merger. I have suggested to the deacons and to the church council that these committees be dissolved and that we begin again with one committee committed to church growth. Please consider this possibility prayerfully and make any suggestions that you have about such a committee to me or to one of the deacons or to a council member. Let s rejoice in the faithfulness and the fruitfulness of this congregation over the past three hundred and forty-six years and pray that God will bless us in our plans to share the good news of Jesus with people who need to hear it. Finally, do not forget that the first Sunday in October is World Communion Sunday and the day we receive the Neighbors in Need offering. Yours in Christ, Rev. Howard

2 FIRST CHURCH CELEBRATED OUR FIRST ANNIVERSARY WITH REV. DR. HOWARD MAYER On September 4th, we celebrated Rev. Howard s First Anniversary with us at First Church. Rev. Howard was presented with a crystal water glass and following the service, for the Fellowship refreshment, a cake was provided by the Deacons. On the occasion of his First Anniversary with us, the members of the First Congregational Church of Woodbury extended our warmest wishes and heartfelt thanks for his outstanding service, leadership and dedication. We have been blessed by his kindness, enlightened by his thought-provoking sermons and inspired by his prayers. His many references to poetry and literature have enriched us, and his unique humor has delighted us. We were pleased to have had this opportunity to express our gratitude to him and hope to celebrate many more anniversaries together. Rev. Howard with our Deacons (L-R: Audrey Jannetty, Kathy Masiulis, Lisa Nanes- Sulliman, Rev. Howard, Muffy Munson, Linda Osterman Hamid) (L-R: Kathy Masiulis, Rev. Howard, Muffy Munson, Audrey Jannetty)

3 World Communion Sunday October 2, 2016 World Communion Sunday celebrated the first Sunday in October offers congregations a distinctive opportunity to experience Holy Communion in the context of the global community of faith. World Communion Sunday has become a time when Christians in every culture break bread and pour the cup to remember and affirm Christ as the Head of the Church. Whether shared in a grand cathedral, a mud hut, outside on a hilltop, in a meetinghouse, or in a storefront, Christians celebrate the communion liturgy in more ways than there are congregations. Whatever the format, whatever diversity is coming to the table, we are partaking in a world-wide wave of prayers and kneelers and drinkers and eaters who love, remember, and try to follow our same Savior Jesus. Although the unity of the church needs constant attention, days like this give us the opportunity to re-commit ourselves to the life of unity to which Christ calls us. The day has taken on new relevancy and depth of meaning in a world where globalization often has undermined peace and justice and in a time when fear divides the peoples of God s earth. On this day, we remember that we are part of the whole body of believers. We celebrate our oneness in Christ, the Prince of Peace, in the midst of the world we are called to serve a world ever more in need of peacemaking. Together we are the Church, the body of Christ in our world. Jesus, who so often broke bread with his friends, is our host. He, the Bread of Life, sustains the Church, and lovingly invites the worthy and the unworthy into the community of believers. World Communion Sunday can be both a profound worship experience and a time for learning more about our wider community of faith. FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH SPONSORS A SPECIAL SEMINAR Entitled "Listening for God," Contemporary Literature and the Life of Faith. The eight-week program will be held on Sundays, October 2 to November 20, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. at First Church. North Church members and the general public are welcome to attend. In a casual, relaxing atmosphere, group participants will have the opportunity to talk about how God speaks to us through the words of these creative writers. The reader, "Listening for God," by contributing editors Paula J. Carlson and Peter S. Hawkins, is a new collection of stories intended to help readers investigate how life and faith merge in surprising ways and places. If you are interested, please sign up in early September so that an order can be placed for the correct number of books. Call the church, (203) or Rev. Howard, hmayer@hartford.edu. (L-R) Linda Osterman Hamid, Rev. Howard, Muffy Munson

4 For a number of years now, the loose plate offering (those monies received that are not in an offering envelope or by check) on Communion Sundays (the 1st Sunday of each month) have gone to what is called The Deacons Fund. This fund is used to help those in need in our congregation or community. Thank you in advance for your generosity!!! Communion Sunday is when First Church collects foodstuffs for the Woodbury Food Bank. Please leave your donations in the basket at the back of the Sanctuary or in Fellowship Hall Do you know of someone who has given his or her time in providing an act of kindness? Please let us know so that we, too, may recognize that person. Just leave a note for the Church Office. Note paper is available for your thoughts in the basket on the office door. Or call the office at LaBonne s Cash Back Program - THANK YOU one and all for your support of this fundraiser! Please continue to drop your receipts in the basket marked LaBonne s located on the counter in Fellowship Hall. The new Flower Chart signup is located by the door to the kitchen from Fellowship Hall. If you would like to supply altar flowers for worship please let the office ( )know that you have signed up. Flowers can be given In Memory of or In Honor of someone special or In Celebration of any special reason or event in your life. Page 4

5 Woodbury s Fall Festival will take place on Sunday, October 2, 2-6 PM Remember to mark your calendars and to stop in at First Church! We will have historic tours of the Narthex and Sanctuary by our very own docent, Mary MacLeod, at 2:30, 3:30 and 4:30. You will learn some very interesting things about First Church! The Red Barn Thrift Shop will be open 2-5 PM on the 2nd with all proceeds to benefit First Church s roof project. Our Quilt Raffle Drawing will be held at 3 pm. Multi-Family Indoor Tag Sale 2 6 PM in our Fellowship Hall All sorts of great things available: household items, children s clothes, toys and books, furniture, rugs Come Join Us in all of the Festivities!! Page 5

6 Joys & Concerns of Our Church Family 10/18 Marc Acri 10/24 Gabi Bianchi John MacLeod 10/25 David Caron Terri Hale 10/28 Katie Garms 10/29 Cindy Shannon Norman Taylor 10/1 Rachel & Harry Gerowe 10/14 Janet & Christopher Antilla We are looking for volunteers to host Fellowship Hour! Rev. Howard provides nourishment for the soul during worship and you can provide a little nourishment for the body!! It only takes a few minutes to set up the coffee and set out the treats. If you would like to host Fellowship Hour, there is a new sign-up sheet is located in Fellowship Hall by the door leading into the kitchen. Please sign your name and phone number next to the date you would like to host. 10/2 Joan Bengtson 10/9 Cindy Lago 10/16 OPEN 10/23 OPEN 10/30 OPEN Newsletter Deadline for the November Issue is October 15 If you know a member or friend of First Church who is ill or in the hospital please let the Church Office know CHURCH CLERK NEEDED If you are interested in filling the position of the Clerk of First Church, please contact the Church Office at CHURCH HISTORIAN NEEDED If you are interested in history please consider becoming the historian of First Church. Contact the Church Office at Page 6

7 Maria Platt s grand-nephew, Austin Dodd, continuing with chemo. Our homebound members: Harry Bartlett, Lynn Geary, Louise Green, Marjorie St. Pierre, Muriel St. Pierre and Kimi Zaima OCTOBER 15 Sunday Stewards for October 10/2 Virginia Garms and Ed Masiulis 10/9 Virginia Garms and Mike Crowe 10/16 Roberta O Neil and Bill Garms 10/23 Virginia Garms and Dave Jaffin 10/30 Virginia Garms and Helga Weed If you would like to be a Steward on Sundays, please call the Church Office. The schedule is on a rotating basis (once a month or less) DEACONS OF THE WEEK 10/2 Linda Osterman Hamid and Kathy Masiulis 10/9 Muffy Munson 10/16 Lisa Nanes-Sulliman 10/23 TBD 10/30 TBD The Deacons meet the second Tuesday of each month at 12:30 pm Page 7

8 Recollections from the Past In answer to questions presented in the last newsletter. The postcard photo of the Sanctuary was made by Stedman Hitchcock in the early 80 s to be sold at the Church Fair. It was at a time when the postal rates had gone up and people were sending postcards at Christmas to save money. Later Rev. Peter Marsden used them to send notes to visitors and members. Stedman Hitchcock One photo shoed sheds at the back of the Church. One was still standing when restoration began in the 80 s (shown to the right of the Church in photo). When people came to Church on horse back, they could put their horses under cover. At that time, Church was an all-day affair, with a lunch break between the morning and afternoon services. I have also read that families would have their lunch in the cemetery at their family plot. What a nice way to remember and pass on memories of loved ones to their children. (The cemetery next to St. Paul s Episcopal Church is actually First Church Cemetery. First Church sold a section to St. Paul s Church after the Revolutionary War, which was considered a friendly gesture since many were Tory sympathizers.) The Portico, linking the Parish House and Church, made a covered walkway which was used in bad weather. The door to the Sanctuary was where it is today and another was opposite in the Parish House. I remember using it the first day that Greg, my youngest came to Church at 3 weeks of age. Bill drove through so his son wouldn t get wet, although Bill always said that God baptized Greg Himself on that day. ~ Helga Weed ~ Joint Confirmation Class Planned with North Church Beginning in October. If you are interested in having your child confirmed, please contact the Church Office via at mail@firstchurchwoodbury.org Or by phone at More information will be forthcoming as class dates are set

9 Red Barn Backpack Project For the fifth consecutive year, the Red Barn has helped needy families offset the cost of back-toschool supplies with our Fill the Backpack project. This year, we did things a little differently, and targeted our efforts, so that no supplies would be languishing in a school supply closet. Backpacks were provided directly to a family in Poughkeepsie, NY; a secondgrader in Watertown; an inner-city Waterbury child (along with two complete school uniforms, two new pairs of school shoes, socks, and play-clothes); four elementary school students in Bethlehem; and three Woodbury Middle School students, as well as basic supplies for a high school student in Woodbury. We also provided bags full of supplies to Bethlehem Elementary, for distribution by the school social worker. Although we weren t able to provide the quantity we did last year (33 in 2015, versus 20 this year), meeting these families face-to-face and hearing their stories was gratifying yet humbling. A single mother who had just lost her job; a family of four whose father had walked out with no child support; a woman who had to leave her job as a nurse to care for her mother, who had been in an accident; another who simply had a run of very bad luck and needed a break. All of these families were also able to shop for clothes at no charge; all of them were overwhelming grateful, some to the point of tears, at what they termed our generosity. The Red Barn is the most visible, viable, and effective arm of Outreach of First Church. For over 34 years, the Barn has not only provided a steady source of income for First Church, but in-the-trenches help for our local community as well as projects as diverse as early reader books to an inner city Los Angeles Literacy Program; clothing and supplies for orphanages in Brazil; supplies and spare uniform pieces to an underserved school in Salem, MA; and many other worthy but unsung programs where this tiny David of a thrift shop has acted like a Goliath in helping people with a hand up. And the reason we re able to do all of this is our staff of dedicated, compassionate, and down-right fun volunteers. So the next time you see Dorothy Winn, Nancy DeSotto, Joan Cole, Sharon Jarr, Virginia Garms, Connie Zombar, Annie Cowling, Irene Budinski, Patty Koeper, Reggie Mulrooney, Tracey Pilch, Angel Cowling tell them thank you for all they do to represent First Church in a positive way to the community. Special thanks also to Maria Platt in the office; Bill Garms, for always seeming to be there when we have an electrical issue, and to Virginia Garms, who unfailingly provides back-up and support to the very stressful and physically and mentally demanding role of manager.

10 Norm Taylor has been a member of First Church for close to 70 years! During those years, Norm has been in our Choir, Music Committee, Men s Fellowship, on our Pastor- Parish Relations Committee (PPRC), on the Board Trustees, Finance, Properties, Assistant Moderator and a past Moderator of First Church. He is always smiling, full of charm and has a zest for life. Married to his lovely wife Adele since 1950, this dynamic duo could always be counted on to lend a hand with all our community projects both large and small. Norm has always been a strong leader inspiring others to fulfill their potential. We also wish an early Happy Birthday to Norm as he celebrates his 93rd year on October 29! 1970 Harry Bartlett has been a member of First Church for close to 60 years! Married to his vivacious and compassionate wife Dorothea (Dot) from 1942 until her death in 2011, they were a mainstay and fixture of First Church since 1958, 1970 serving on many boards and committees and extending the hand of Christian fellowship to any and all who walked into First Church. Harry made sure that the property and grounds of First Church were always kept in pristine condition and Dot was known as our own Church Mouse, as the kitchen was basically her domain! Harry was also an avid swimmer for years, swimming in the Senior Olympics since he was 70, and winning numerous gold medals in his age group through the years! We also wish an early Happy Birthday to Harry as he will be celebrating his 101st year on December 10th! A heartfelt thank you to both of these men and their families for their selfless devotion to First Church.

11 Join us at First Church Sunday, October 2nd, 2-6 PM during the Woodbury Fall Fest where you will enjoy historic tours, a multi-family tag sale, shopping at the Red Barn Along with Fun, Family & Fellowship!

12 All Hallow's Eve MARY REED NEWLAND One of the nicest surprises of living around the year with the Church is to find that Halloween is part of it. Not that the Mass of the day has mention of black cats, or the Divine Office of witches, but for so long Halloween meant nothing but parties and vandalism that when someone first proposed that it came out of the liturgy, I asked: "Are you sure?" You still hear people doubt it, even when you show them that Halloween is All- Hallows'-Eve which is the night-before-all-saints'- Day. Some tell me they understand that Halloween pranks were a post-reformation contribution to plague Catholics who kept the vigil of All Saints. Now it is possible that Halloween was abused for such a purpose; nevertheless, during all the Christian centuries up until the simplification of the Church calendar in 1956, it was a liturgical vigil in its own right and thus has a reason for being. Learning this, one pious lady of our acquaintance was heard to say: "Oh, I'm so glad to know that. I was about to write my congressman and suggest the whole thing be outlawed." A celebration much like our Halloween, with bonfires and feasting on apples and nuts and harvest fruits, was part of pagan worship for centuries. The Britons celebrated in honor of their sun-god with bonfires, a tribute to the light that brought them abundant harvest. At the same time they saluted Samhain, their "lord of death," who was thought to gather together at last the souls of the year's dead which had been consigned to the bodies of animals in punishment for their sins. The Romans celebrated the same kind of festival at this time in honor of their goddess Pomona, a patroness of fruits and gardens. Whether the Church "baptized" these customs or chose this season for her feasts of the dead independent of them, their coincidence shows again how alike men are when they seek God and His ways, give praise, use the language of symbols to express the inexpressible. It was in the eighth century that the Church appointed a special date for the feast of All Saints, followed by a day in honor of her soon-to-be saints, the feast of All Souls. She chose this time of year, it is supposed, because in her part of the world it was the time of barrenness on the earth. The harvest was in, the summer done, the world brown and drab and mindful of death. Snow had not yet descended to comfort and hide the bony trees or blackened fields; so with little effort man could look about and see a meditation on death and life hereafter. Apparently how you spent the vigil of All Saints depended on where you lived in Christendom. In Brittany the night was solemn and without a trace of merriment. On their "night of the dead" and for forty-eight hours thereafter, the Bretons believed the poor souls were liberated from Purgatory and were free to visit their old homes. The vigil for the souls, as well as the saints, had to be kept on this night because of course the two days were consecutive feasts and a vigil is never kept on a feast. Breton families prayed by their beloveds' graves during the day, attended church for "black vespers" in the evening and in some parishes proceeded thence to the charnel house in the cemetery to pray by the bones of those not yet buried or for whom no room could be found in the cemetery. Here they sang hymns to call on all Christians to pray for the dead and, speaking for the dead, they asked prayers and more prayers. Late in the evening in the country parishes, after supper was over, the housewives would spread a clean cloth on the table, set out pancakes, curds, and cider. And after the fire was banked and chairs set round the table for the returning loved ones, the family would recite the De Profundis (Psalm 129) again and go to bed. During the night a townsman would go about the streets ringing a bell to warn them that it was unwise to roam abroad at the time of returning souls. It was in Ireland and Scotland and England that All Hallows' Eve became a combination of prayer and merriment. Following the break with the Holy See, Queen Elizabeth forbade all observances connected with All Souls' Day. In spite of her laws, however, customs survived; even Shakespeare in his Two Gentlemen of Verona has Speed tell Valentine that he knows he is in love because he has learned to speak "puling like a beggar at Hallowmas." This line must have escaped the Queen. (continued on next page)

13 (All Hallows Eve continued) Tricks or treats old style Begging at the door grew from an ancient English custom of knocking at doors to beg for a "soul cake" in return for which the beggars promised to pray for the dead of the household. Soul cakes, a form of shortbread and sometimes quite fancy, with currants for eyes became more important for the beggars than prayers for the dead, it is said. Florence Berger tells in her Cooking for Christ a legend of a zealous cook who vowed she would invent soul cakes to remind them of eternity at every bite. So she cut a hole in the middle and dropped it in hot fat, and lo a doughnut. Circle that it is, it suggests the never-ending of eternity. Truth or legend, it serves a good purpose at Halloween. The refrains sung at the door varied from "a soul cake, a soul cake, have mercy on all Christian souls for a soul cake," to the later: Soul, soul, an apple or two, If you haven't an apple, a pear will do, One for Peter, two for Paul, Three for the Man Who made us all. Here they had either run out of soul cakes or plain didn't care. Charades, pantomimes, and little dramas, popular remnants of the miracle and morality plays of the Middle Ages, commonly rehearsed the folk in the reality of life after death and the means to attain it. It is probably from these that the custom of masquerading on Halloween had its beginning. The folly of a life of selfishness would be the message pantomimed by the damned; the torment of waiting, the message of the souls from Purgatory; the delights of the beatific vision, the message of the Heaven-sent. Together they warned the living to heed the means of salvation before it was too late. Doubtless the presence of goblins and witches with cats (ancient symbols of the devil) were remnants of pagan times bespeaking to Christians of spirits loosed from hell to keep track of their own and herd them back at cockcrow. Saint- Saens' Danse Macabre with death fiddling his eerie spell over the graveyard fascinated us all the years of growing up. Waiting for the sound of cockcrow, which would send the souls scuttling back to their graves, was almost too much suspense to bear. Little did we know that it was inspired by old French customs and superstitions on All Hallows' Eve. The familiar harvest fruits, cornstalks, and pumpkins were seasonal. Although there is an old Irish legend about a miser named Jack who was too stingy to go to Heaven and too clever to go to hell, so that he had to spend eternity roaming the earth with a lighted pumpkin for a lantern, the appearance of jack-o'-lanterns has always seemed much more reasonable than that. These were ages when death was a serious and acceptable meditation. Christian art shows skulls and bones as a commonplace of interior decoration, at least in the cells of the convents and monasteries. Vigils were kept by the graves, and lights and bread left for the dead, all for the twofold purpose of recalling those dead and remembering that one day you would be dead. Surely it was some bright boy, stumbling over a pile of pumpkins by his father's barn, who hit on the notion of carving a grinning death's-head to carry, lighted by a candle, under his arm. If you know small boys, this is the most reasonable of all explanations. Acknowledgement Newland, Mary Reed "All Hallows' Eve" Chapter 19 in The Year and Our Children (P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1956): The Author Copyright 1999 Mary Reed Newland

14 Plans are in the works for our Christmas Fair to be held during the Woodbury Festival weekend on Saturday, December 3rd, from 9:30am until 2 pm. We are excited! The following areas will be included, although we may add more: Our "Cookie Walk" has been so successful that we will continue our tradition of offering delicious, homemade cookies to our shoppers. Our "Greenery" table will offer wreaths, swags, fresh arrangements, and mini Christmas trees. We almost sold out last year! Our "Jewelry Finds" table always includes some hidden treasures. Our "Homegoods" table will feature homemade crafts for animals, children, and your home. Our "White Elephant" table will overflow with interesting items that need to find a new home. Our "Raffle" will have a surprise waiting for you! We would love to entice all crafters to join us! You may make your beautiful items at home or bring your incredible talent to one of our workshops... (We will announce these at a later date.) We encourage you to rummage through your jewelry boxes, your attic, your cellar or your living room to find items you would like to donate to our jewelry or white elephant tables. The Christmas Fair day is a wonderful celebration of First Church Christian fellowship at its finest! Please consider working with us that day as we show our shoppers what we are really all about! God bless you, Your Christmas Fair co-chairs, Kathy Masiulis and Audrey Jannetty

15 2 World Communion Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Neighbors In Need Rosh Hashanah 9:00 am Choir Rehearsal 10:00 am Worship 11:15 am Fellowship 11:30 am Book Study 2-5 pm Red Barn 9 9:00 am Choir Rehearsal 10:00 am Worship 11:15 am Fellowship 11:30 am Book Study 16 9:00 am Choir Rehearsal 10:00 am Worship 11:15 am Fellowship 11:30 am Book Study 23 9:00 am Choir Rehearsal 10:00 am Worship 11:15 am Fellowship 11:30 am Book Study 30 9:00 am Choir Rehearsal 10:00 am Worship 11:15 am Fellowship 3 11:30 am AA 10 Columbus Day Indigenous Peoples Day 11:30 am AA 17 11:30 am AA 7:00 pm Woodbury Bethlehem Parent Connection 24 11:30 am AA 31 Halloween (All Hallows Eve) 11:30 am AA :30 pm Deacons Mtg 6:30 pm Acoustic Mic 12 Yom Kippur 7 10 pm Soul Collage :00 pm Jr. Women 25 6:30 pm Acoustic Mic pm Soul Collage :30 pm Choir Practice 13 7:30 pm Choir Practice 20 7:30 pm Choir Practice 27 7:30 pm Choir Practice 7 8:00 pm AA 14 8:00 pm AA 21 8:00 pm AA 28 8:00 pm AA pm Tag Sale Setup Noon- 3 pm Soul Collage

16 FIRST CONGREGATI ONAL CHURCH OF WOOD BURY 214 Main Street Spouth Woodbury, CT Phone: We re on on the Web! web! FirstChurchWoodbury.org Firstchurchwoodbury Join us at First Church Sunday, October 2nd, 2-6 PM during the Woodbury Fall Fest where you will enjoy historic tours, a multi-family tag sale, shopping at the Red Barn Along with Fun, Family & Fellowship! Is October 15 For the November Issue