Building Christian Community Within and Beyond the Church. St. James United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 St. James United Methodist Church 646 Daniel Webster Highway Merrimack, NH Rev. Lynne Mentzer, Pastor Robin House, Office Administrator Contact Us: Office phone: (603) Stjames-umchurch.org Facebook: St. James UMC Prayer Request Building Christian Community Within and Beyond the Church On the Inside Pastor s Message Page 2 Ministry Action Plan Update Page 3 Christmas Worship Schedule Page 4 Advent Bible Study Page 4 Outreach Missions Page 5 Fellowship and Fundraising Page 6 Community Connections Page 7 Kids Page Page 8 Calendar Page 9 1

2 Pastor s Message Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, As I write this, it s snowing outside. It seems early this year, but for some reason these first snowstorms always seem to take us by surprise. Just like the Christmas season itself. We know it s coming, but it always seems to take us by surprise when the countdown begins. We hear the chirpy newscaster say, Good morning, New Hampshire! Hold onto your candy canes only 17 more days til Christmas! And depending on our age, we either cheer or groan. As our families grow and become part of larger extended families, either by marriage or remarriage, celebrating Christmas becomes an exercise in high-level negotiations as well. Not only are we busy shopping-wrappingbaking-eating-decorating-entertaining-sending cards and returning gifts, we now have to negotiate different traditions. Some family members go to church, some don t. Some open gifts on Christmas Eve, some wait for Christmas morning. There are different traditions around when to decorate the tree, what to serve for dinner, who hosts, who cleans up and on and on. Discovering these differences can take us by surprise, too. So here s one way to manage the chaos. When hosting extended family for Christmas (or any holiday), ask each one this simple question: What s the one thing you have to have in order for Christmas to be Christmas? One per customer. Then make sure to do each of those special things together, cheerfully, as a family. What a great question! What s the one thing Jim and I have to have in order for Christmas to be Christmas? Time. Time to relax together and time to spend with our far-flung family. What s the one thing St. James UMC has to have in order for Christmas to be Christmas? A beautifully decorated sanctuary? Christmas Cookies and Carols? A giving tree? So what s the one thing you have to have in order for Christmas to be Christmas? Here s another great question: What s the one thing followers of Christ have to have in order for Christmas to be Christmas? That might lead to a different answer altogether. As followers of Christ, we remember that the reason for the season is the birth of Jesus Jesus who is God Incarnate, Beloved Son, Savior, Redeemer, Good Shepherd, Wise Counselor, Prince of Peace, Light of the world, and so much more for each of us. As followers of Christ, we look back on his holy birth, we look in this present moment for his guidance, and we look ahead to his promised return. Most of all, as followers of Christ, the one thing we have to have in order for Christmas to be Christmas is the love of Jesus in our eyes, hearts, hands and lives. May the love of Jesus take you by surprise and fill you to overflowing this Advent and Christmas season. May the love of Jesus be the blessing St. James UMC brings to our many communites. May the love of Jesus bless your time with family and friends and all your high-level negotiations. In Advent Peace and Christmas Joy, Rev. Lynne Mentzer 2

3 Coaching Team Update: Listening, Learning, Praying, and Preparing to Build Community Rick McKinley says we re off to a very good start! Rick is helping to guide us through the challenging process of making God s plan for St. James a reality. What s the plan? Two parts: to expand our food pantry and to increase ministry opportunities with families. To make both these ministries more visible and accessible. You know, to build Christian community within and beyond the church. This monthly newsletter article is one way the team working with Rick can keep the congregation as a whole in the loop. It s also an open invitation for you to share your ideas and resources to help. So here s what s happening this month: We re continuing to survey food pantry volunteers and guests to find out what works and what we can do better. So far, what works is the friendly, helpful, respectful welcome our guests receive from all volunteers. What we can do better is improve accessibility, signage and hours. Team members will meet with food pantry volunteers to hear their needs and dreams for growing from our current pop up pantry to a permanent, located mission of the church. Team members will meet with 2-3 community leaders to better understand the changing needs of our community, and the resources already in place, and how St. James can fill gaps in meeting the physical and spiritual needs of our neighbors. Sharing information and plans for growth in any organization is a big and important job the church is no exception. Our newsletter and social media are two good vehicles; open town hall-style all-church meetings are also planned; how else can we communicate? Let us know! What s next? 1) A specific plan, budget and timeline for relocating the food pantry and betting using our space to accommodate church and community group events. 2) We re also working on an analysis of how we re currently using our space and what our space needs truly are. And, 3) we re beginning to explore the connections between expanding the food pantry, increasing ministry opportunities with families, and meeting the needs of the new folks who will be moving in to Gilbert Crossings one year from now. Our next coaching session with Rick is scheduled for Thursday, January 17th. If you have questions or ideas to help us build Christian community within and beyond the church, please share them with Molly Jenkins, Hannah Cote, Carole Vandermark, Bob Hurle or Lynne Mentzer. Thanks! 3

4 WORSHIP Blue Christmas Service for all who struggle through the holidays. Thursday, December 20 at 7:00 pm Christmas Eve Services Monday, December 24 4:00 pm Family Candlelight Worship with Bells 9:00 pm Candlelight Worship Service CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Advent Bible Study Go from, Bah, humbug! to a blessed Advent and a merry Christmas as you rediscover Charles Dickens classic viewed through the lens of faith. Join us on the four Sundays of Advent December 2, 9, 16 and 23 from 8:00 to 9:00 am. Books can be purchased for $ We have a few extras if you didn t pre-order. 4

5 OUTREACH MISSIONS ANGEL TREE This year s angel tree will be decorated with gift tags to purchase various gift cards. The cards will be given to families in need. If you wish to contribute, please take a tag, purchase the gift card, and return it to the church office or leave it in the basket near the tree in fellowship hall. difference to the less fortunate in our community. Every Thanksgiving, I feel privileged to be part of this great team who all work together to provide such a healthy, abundant basket of food; enabling our families to spend the holiday together..thank you!!! December Christmas Baskets: As in the past, our pantry cheerfully provides Christmas meals to approximately 75 families. We are arranging baskets with ham and fixings. In order to make this mission a success, we would appreciate any donations of the following items: baked ham, pineapple, rolls, pies, or cookies. We preorder the potatoes and carrots, but we welcome any monetary donations to gift cards to offset the cost and to add something sweet in everyone s basket. If you can supply any of these items, we would appreciate it! Please let us know if you wish to donate a large quantity of any items so that we can arrange to help you deliver or pick up. Everything for Christmas needs to be here at church before December 16 th for our December 21 st distribution. We can make later arrangements if you need any help or have questions please Donna Johnson at dmj22463@aol/.com or call or David or Barbara Jenkins at Thank you for helping families within our community have a special Christmas! Holiday Schedule: The food pantry will be closed on Christmas Day and New Year s Day. We will be open instead on Thursday, January 3 from 9:30-12:00. The Clothes closet will also be closed on Christmas day and New Year s Day. Both Food Pantry and Clothes Closet will resume their regular schedule on Tuesday, January 8. 5 HOLIDAY BASKETS Submitted by Donna Johnson Thanksgiving Baskets: Special thanks to everyone who donated time, food, monies, and service to our food pantry this month. We were able to distribute over 755 Thanksgiving baskets this year; thanks to you!! The support we receive form our church family, friends, and community is consistently outstanding! Your generosity makes a world of

6 FELLOWSHIP Sunday, December 2 Time: 4:30 6:30 Following the town parade, we will gather in fellowship hall for sandwiches and sweets, then we ll sing our favorite Christmas carols in the sanctuary. Invite family, friends and neighbors to enjoy Christian fellowship as we celebrate the promise of hope, peace, love and joy we find in the birth of Jesus. great too. All meals will be sold at $8 each. I will have the pans to prepare them available at the end of the month in the church office. Please join me in making this a successful fundraiser. If you have questions, feel free to call me at (603) or me at lbw04@msn.com. Thanks in advance for your contributions. Grace and Peace, Linda Wilson January Fundraiser Submitted by Linda Wilson Beginning Sunday, December 2nd, I will have sign-up sheets posted on the board outside the office for Heaven Sent Meals. The sheets will be up through December. On January, 6, 13, and 20, I ll have the lists of meals to purchase. Meals will be ready for pick-up on January 27 th. We need people to make a variety of meals and then people to purchase the meals. Please sign-up to make as many meals as you want. The meals should serve 2-4 people. Gluten free meals would be 6

7 COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS The St. Petersburg Men s Ensemble Enjoy a performance of sacred and folk music by this talented choral quartet. Date: Saturday, December 8 Time: 7:00 pm Place: Faith Episcopal Church (Wheeler Chapel) 590 Daniel Webster Highway, Merrimack 30 th Annual Nativity Pageant Dates: Saturday, December 8 and Sunday, December 9 Place: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 110 Concord St., Nashua Two performances at 6 and 7 pm will feature live actors. Even the actor portraying baby Jesus is a real baby! The pageant follows the story directly from the Bible, beginning with children and adults re-enacting the arrival of Mary and Joseph into Bethlehem and ending with the arrival of the Messiah. This pageant has spoken word and music via audio recording of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. After the brief fifteen minute pageant, homemade cookies and hot chocolate are free to anyone who would like to partake! 7

8 SMALL BLESSINGS 8

9 December 2018 RC Flying Eagle Remote Club FIN Finance Committee CH Council Church Council UMM United Methodist Men ECOH Eagle Court of Honor (Scouts) GS Girl Scouts BS Boy Scouts CS Cub Scouts 9 HHH Home Health & Hospice SJH St. Joseph s Fitness Class YG Youth Group FH Fellowship Hall CR Conference Room S Sanctuary P - Parlor UC Undercroft CL - Classrooms