SCC FOUNTAINPEN. SOMERS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST December 18 WORSHIPING AND SERVING SINCE 1727 Volume 290 / #12

Transcription

1 HIGHLIG SCC TS SOMERS CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST December 18 WORSHIPING AND SERVING SINCE 1727 Volume 290 / #12 FOUNTAINPEN Somers Church Members & Friends, The October Workday Mission Statement (MS), written entirely by you, compiled by the Transitional Ministry Committee and unanimously voted for approval by the Church Council, will be available this Monday, December 3rd. When it arrives by mail, or in your inbox on Monday, I hope you will read it. Here s why. The Mission Statement is a wonderful expression of what clergy call lay-empowerment. In our congregational approach to governance, you the laity of the church are driving the bus. Laity set the table for clergy as it were, to help you realize your ministry vision. Your finger is, in effect on the power button waiting to be pushed to start the motor humming. The United Church of Christ Church Profile, describing your church to prospective ministerial candidates will fundamentally answer three questions, that every one of them will want to know about you before they choose to accept a call from your church over another promising church prospect. The profile asks you to describe in 25 pages, or so, these probing questions; Who are we?, Who are we aspiring to become? and Who is our neighbor? The October Mission Statement is a first step in informing your soon to be selected and commissioned Pastoral Search Committee how you want the church profile to read in the eyes of a successful, experienced, tested and exciting minister, looking for a new pastoral opportunity to determine if Somers Congregational Church UCC is a good fit for them. In December and early January you will provide the Pastoral Search Committee with additional pew empowered input, as I will host three Congregational Conversations that will further fill in some of the profile blanks waiting to be filled in. Many churches in a period of pastoral succession want two things 1. Get us a new preacher that everyone in our church will love NOW! and 2. Appoint a search committee that will get a preacher that will represent my idea of who our church is. The Conversations to be held December 11, January 8 and 15 from 7:00pm to 8:30pm, in the Foundation Room will provide yet another empowering opportunity for your to help complete 1. and 2. with accuracy and dispatch. Churches sometimes must apply that old adage that goes, Don t get mad at me for not hearing what you didn t say! If you don t speak up, participate, become lay-empowered when the opportunity is given, don t get angry that no one heard what you didn t say. Join in, speak up. Time is running out. If you follow my suggested plan the PSC will be in place in January, the profile will be complete, and published on line by April. What happens next is up to God and your search continued on page 2

2 committee, as they will be interviewing those, who after reading your on-line profile, want to apply to become Dr. Cass s successor. (Please Note: this is the shortest interim time line I have ever suggested a church in transition employ.) When your profile is complete, I will no longer meet with, or be available to interact with the Pastoral Search Committee. In effect my work is complete once you begin composing the profile and click the submit button activating that description of who you are, aspiring to become and who the neighbor God has called you to serve is. The greatest satisfaction I have as an interim pastor is creating settings for you to give voice to how you want to present yourselves to prospective ministerial candidates. Over these past 20+ years I have had the joy of seeing 12 congregations introduce and welcome a settled ( permanent ) minister into the life of their church. Sometimes that was easy, sometimes challenging, but all of them did so on their terms. Why, because they choose to be empowered to be the church God had called them to be. My you have a blessed Advent season as we spiritually prepare our hearts for Christ s coming, as I remain Faithfully Yours in Christ, Rev d Dr. David Fountain Dates to Remember POT Luck Calendar 2019: 5:30 p.m. Desert; coffee; and tea will be provided! Please bring a side dish to share. Vegetarian and gluten-free dishes are welcome!! Consider bringing a friend or family along. It is a great way for newcomers to be introduced to our church family and get comfortable coming to our church. You can even offer them a tour while they are there to see the Sanctuary and help them navigate. Save The Dates Jan. 13 th March 24 th June 9 th Oct. 13 th Dec. 1st Christmas Bazaar Dec. 2 nd First Sunday in Advent Dec. 8 th Shoreline Ringers Bell Concert Dec. 11 th Congregational Conversation Dec. 16 th Cookie Swap Dec. 16 th Congregational Meeting following 9:30 Service Dec. 16 th Christmas Pageant 4:00pm Dec 24 th Christmas Eve Services 5:30 pm and 11:00pm Dec. 25 th Christmas

3 NATIVITY DISPLAY 500 Nativities from Around the Globe Displayed throughout our Church Dates/Times: December 9 th through January 6th Monday thru Thursday 9:00-11:30am Sundays Before and After 9:30 a.m. Service Other opportunities: Evening of Dec. 8 th, following Shoreline Ringers Performance Community Supper December 15 th Christmas Eve Services 5:30 & 11:00 p.m. Cookie Swap Sunday, December 16 th How does a Cookie Swap work? You come with one type of homemade cookie and you leave with a large variety of homemade cookies. Sign up on the bulletin board near the Foundation Room by December 9 th. Bake 6 dozen of your favorite type of cookie (one type) Bring them all with you on December 16 th COOKIE SWAP WILL TAKE PLACE AT 9:00 A.M. Arrive early to get organized. Someone will be in touch with all Cookie Swappers to confirm packaging and details for our SWAP! You might wonder why we aren t having Cookie Swap AFTER Worship? It is a busy time of year and that is also the final day of our Silent Auction which takes place after church so we ll do the Cookie Swap early. Still have questions? Contact Lisa Gay: or telehelp@cox.net

4 Women s Fellowship Donates $1,000 to Website Project! Our Women s Fellowship Group generously voted to donate $1,000 of their very hard earned funds to help finance the launch of our new website. THANK YOU VERY MUCH Women s Fellowship for supporting our exciting new marketing efforts! New Website Update: Our New Website Template Has Been Purchased and Building It Will Begin Soon: The Ad Hoc Website Committee has purchased the new UCC website template from Ministry Designs and building the website will begin in December. Committee members Emily Jewell, Jim Jewell, Joe Driscoll, and Mark Marschall will begin to review content needed for the website's new landing pages and seek assistance from church committees to write new content. We will begin to load pictures into the website's library for use on landing pages throughout the year. Joe Driscoll will be taking photographs of upcoming church events for this purpose. The committee has developed signage and will modify existing release forms to inform people that photographs may be taken during events that may be used on our new website and/or social media. As one of our most important marketing tools, the goal is to create a website that is quick and easy to navigate from any computer, smart phone, or device; one that can readily by updated by church staff; and one which has the dynamic features and capabilities we can use to tell our church s story to help us attract members, visitors, and a new settled pastor. It's too early to predict when the new website will go live. We have lots of work to do and the team has just completed a one-hour training session to get started with building it. We need to continue to use the current website until then, so please continue to submit any updates through the existing procedure to do so. More details to come on the new website after we begin the building process in December.

5 Ladies Group CALENDAR OF EVENTS December: No Ladies Group meeting January 27 th : Baking Biscotti for Everything Chocolate Sale February 24 th : Your Family s Story Documenting and Sharing Your Family s Story for the Next Generation March 31 st : Card Making with Dorian and Friends April 28 th : Tag Sale Preparations. Supporting the Tag Sale Team with various chores from making price tags to sorting items. You do not have to be a member of the church to participate. We ask that Ladies be 18 and over or a senior in high school. Friends are welcome. If you would like to attend an event but need a ride, please contact us. We can arrange a ride for you with one of the many Ladies who have offered. Reminders and details for all events are sent by . If you would like to be included on the list, please contact Lisa Gay or anyone on the Membership Board. You don t have ? No problem call one of us and we will arrange for an Buddy who will keep you informed through phone calls. Margaret Festi rfesti@aol.com Sue Zdebski: haircutsue88@cox.net Lisa Gay: telehelp@cox.net Thank you to Deb, Morgan, and Madeline Juzba : : The Juzba Ladies shared their fascinating 40-day Guam, Japan, and Hawaii adventure with Ladies Group in October which we kicked off with an international theme Pot Luck. Most of us in attendance knew little or nothing about Guam until we heard Deb, Morgan and Madeline s interesting and informative presentation. Thank you Juzba Ladies for a great learning experience and wonderful opportunity for fellowship.

6 There is still time to sing with the choir for Christmas Eve. Choir Practice Thursdays at 7:00pm SILENT AUCTION We are currently seeking goods and services to be donated for the Annual Silent Auction. Items will be displayed starting Sunday, December 2nd and then in the Foundation Room each Sunday. They will be available to bid on until Sunday, December 16th around noon. Items can be dropped off in the church office or given to Dorian or Laurel or Kim. New merchandise will be added to the auction each week. Don t know what to donate? Here are just a few ideas: Auto Detailing Tickets to Show/Sporting Event Baked Goods Catering a Meal Tailoring Snow Removal Drive someone to the airport Spa Items Art Work Home-made soup Sewing Services Computer Training Dump Run Gift Certificate Yard Work Vacation Homes Baby/Dog or House Sitting Pool work Durable goods for gifting Cookies or Pie of the Month Gift Baskets For more information: Dorian Jones , Laurel Laurino or Kim Kelley MY DONATION TO THE SILENT AUCTION Item: Description: Minimum Bid: Donor: Telephone #: ( ) -

7 Memorial Poinsettias Memorial Poinsettias can be ordered to beautify our Sanctuary and Chancel for Christmas. You can specify individuals or special intentions that you would like remembered. After they are used in the Church, the poinsettias will be taken to sick or shut in members of the community and enjoyed by them. You can also indicate if you would like to have a poinsettia delivered to a specific person. Cost of donating a poinsettia is $5.00 per plant. Please use this form to order your flowers. Send or bring your order form to the Church Office by December 10th. Please make your check out to Somers Congregational Church. Name of Donor exactly as it should be listed in the bulletin: Memorial or Intention as you would like it listed: Total # of poinsettias Total enclosed $ Please indicate if you would like a poinsettia delivered to specific person: Please deliver to a shut-in Will you be able to deliver this plant? yes no Will you deliver other plants? yes no Our food pantry has lots of peanut butter but We need jelly to go with it! So when you are out shopping please put in an extra jar or two of jelly. And while you are at it add some toilet paper too! JELLY and TOILET PAPER

8 Harvest Sunday We brought bread and grapes to place on our Harvest Table to share with everyone with whom we share our pews (kids and grown ups) in our worship service Sunday, Nov. 18th. Our pledge appeal drew to a close with an opportunity for us to celebrate and dedicate our shared offerings to God, by way of an Agape Meal. On Sunday Nov. 25 th we welcomed Mae Louise Ferreira to our Church Family. Her proud parents are Molly and Josh Ferreira And equally proud Grandparents are Laura and Joe Driscoll

9 82 Pledges 2019 $150, Pledged $207, Budget amount needed If you have not Pledged as yet there is still time to pledge to the wonderful works of your Church!!. Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Luke 6:38 Christmas traditions around the globe Although Americans celebrate the holiday with candlelight services, piles of gifts, large feasts, lights and trees, people in other countries mark Jesus birth in many interesting ways: Nine days before Christmas in Mexico, Las Posadas processions reenact Joseph and Mary s search for a place to stay in Bethlehem. Instead of decorating trees, Italians place fruit on small wooden pyramids. On Christmas Eve, the streets of Caracas, Venezuela, are blocked off so people can roller-skate to church. Ukrainian Christmas trees often feature an artificial spider and web. According to a folk tale, a poor woman who couldn t afford decorations awoke one Christmas morning to find that spiders had trimmed her children s trees with delicate webs. In Brazil, the gift-bringer is known as Papai Noel (Father Noel), who lives in Greenland, according to legend. When he arrives in Brazil, he wears silk clothing because of the summer heat. It s considered bad etiquette to send red Christmas cards in Japan because funeral notices are customarily printed in red. Copyright by Communication Resources. All rights reserved. The Newsletter Newsletter (ISSN ) is published monthly by Communication Resources, Inc., PO Box 36269, Canton, Ohio 44735, Phone: , E- mail: service@newsletternewsletter.com, Web site: Senior Editor: Stephanie Martin. Materials may be republished only in subscribers' own parish publications. No portion may be reproduced in any form for resale or redistribution.

10 Somers Congregational Church 599 Main Street PO Box 295 Somers, CT Phone: (860) FIRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID CITY, ST PERMIT NO. 000