A Note from the Pastor

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1 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Calendar 2 Adult CE Class Resumes January Worship 3 Book Club 3 Mesa MLK Parade 3 Annual Meeting 4 Hygiene Kit Update 4 Fry s Rewards 4 Adopted Families 5 December Pics 6-7 Birthdays 8 Prayer Requests 8 3 Volume 7, Issue 1 A Note from the Pastor January is always a good time for looking back as well as looking ahead, for marking milestones and anniversaries as well as anticipating the future. That s especially important as this year begins, since 2016 will be a year in which you, as a congregation, will engage in some reflection on your ministry and mission as you think about the characteristics of the pastor who will best serve you next. With that in mind I thought I would share some information from the 2015 Annual Report we received from the More Light Presbyterian Network. One section of the report highlights the history of this movement. I was amazed to learn that just a little over 20 years ago, in 1995, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (the Supreme Court of the PCUSA) handed down a decision which said it was permissible to investigate and even to take over, any congregation that announced a decision to be a More Light affiliated congregation. And in 1996 the denomination approved the infamous Amendment B which added language to the Book of Order that banned LGBTQ Presbyterians from serving openly as officers in the church. When you think of where we were 20 years ago, the progress made the past few years seems incredible. For those of us concerned with building a more inclusive Church and a more inclusive society, 2015 will always be remembered as the year our denomination voted to allow pastors to preside at same gender weddings. January 2016 With that vote we became the first faith tradition in the U.S. to approve of same-gender weddings by a nationwide, grassroots vote. Then just five days after that decision officially went into effect, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality nationwide. However, if you follow the news you know that there has been pushback against these civil rights victories. Many states and municipalities have introduced religious liberty bills, with the goal of endorsing discriminating against LGBTQ people based on religious objections. This is where the National More Light Network is focusing their energy now. They are using all the skills they have acquired regarding education and advocacy in order to expose and defeat these religious liberty measures. This year the More Light Network plans to launch issue-based Congregational Networks across the USA. Each network will be comprised of members of veteran More Light congregations as well as congregations brand new to the movement with the goal of learning from each other. It is hoped that these networks will help More Light congregations to share resources and to work together to address specific areas of concern in their communities (click here for more.) Since Celebration of Life is a veteran congregation with a long, proud history in this movement, I hope you will consider becoming involved when you are approached. It sounds like an approach with a lot of potential for (continued on page 4)

2 Page 2 January 2016 Calendar Highlights Sunday, January 3 EPIPHANY SUNDAY 8:30 a.m. - Choir Rehearsal 10:00 a.m. - Worship, with Holy Communion Guadalupe Food Bank items collected 11:15 a.m. - Fellowship, last names A-D asked to bring a snack to share 11:30 a.m. - Officer Training Monday, January 4 6:45 p.m. - Deacons meeting Sunday, January 10 BAPTISM OF OUR LORD 8:30 a.m. - Adult CE Class resumes 10:00 a.m. - Worship 11:15 a.m. - Fellowship last names E-L asked to bring a snack to share Monday, January 11 7:00 p.m. - Session meeting Thursday, January 14 7:00 p.m. - Book Club meets in CE classroom Friday, January 15 Midnight - Committee Reports for 2015 Annual Report due Saturday, January 16 8:30 a.m. - Hygiene Kit Sorting Party Sunday, January 17 ORDINATION & INSTALLATION SERVICE 8:30 a.m. - Adult CE Class 10:00 a.m. - Worship 11:15 a.m. - Fellowship, last names M-O asked to bring a snack to share Monday, January 18 REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY 9:30 a.m. - Carpool to Parade Site 11:00 a.m. - Parade Steps Off Tuesday, January 19 7:00 p.m. - Worship Committee mtg Sunday, January 24 10:00 a.m. - Worship, Rev. Bev Phillips, preaching 11:15 a.m. - Fellowship, last names P-Z asked to bring a snack to share 11:30 a.m. - Evangelism Committee mtg Sunday, January 31 10:00 a.m. - Worship 11:15 a.m. - Fellowship 11:30 a.m. - Annual Congregational Mtg Monday, February 1 6:45 p.m. - Deacons meeting A S t e w a r d s h i p S n i p p e t Another Advent and busy Christmas season has come and gone, and once we make it past New Year s Day, things finally settle down a bit. We still have one more celebration, however - Epiphany. For many, Epiphany is just an afterthought of Christmas, the day we observe the arrival of the wise men in Bethlehem, but Epiphany has a stewardship message for us as well. After all, the magi did not come just to gawk at the baby Jesus. They came because they knew he is someone special. They prostrated themselves and did him homage. Then they opened their treasures and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. They came to worship, and part of that worship included offering gifts to the newborn Lord. Jesus certainly welcomes all who come to visit him, even those who come out of mere curiosity. But when we really meet him, our instinctive response is to worship because we recognize that his character is unlike anyone else we ve ever met. Meeting Jesus and worshiping him calls forth an additional response, and so we, along with the wise men, offer our gifts: our Time, our Talent, and our Treasure. As we begin this new year, let us take a moment to reflect on our place in the Epiphany narrative. Are you willing to undertake the journey to find the King? And if so, what treasures will you offer him? -- Rev. Sean P. Horrigan, Houston, Texas

3 Volume 7, Issue 1 Page 3 Adult Christian Ed Class Resumes January 10 Make a resolution to join us for the Christian Education class in 2016! We will reconvene on the 10 th of January for a discussion about immigrants and refugees. Then on January 17 th we will have guest presenters, Joe and Selena Keesecker, who will share with us a documentary film produced by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance on the plight of the undocumented. It is sure to be a fascinating discussion. Class will then meet next on the second Sunday of February (the 14 th ) to begin a series on Things You Always Wanted to Know About the Bible but Were Afraid to Ask. Class members will be invited to submit questions about topics they ve always wondered about and Shelly (and Ken) will explore what the Bible does and does not say about the subject. Who knows where the discussion will take us? But to make this work, we will need questions from you in advance. So start thinking now about the subject you have always wondered about but didn t know how to ask. Worship in January Sunday, the 10 th, we remember and celebrate Jesus baptism and we ll be fortunate to celebrate a baptism that day as well. Then on Sunday, the 17 th, we will ordain and install the officers who were elected at our November congregational meeting. Ordination is always a very special event in the life of any congregation so we hope you will join us that day. On Sunday, the 24 th, the Rev. Bev Phillips will be our guest preacher. Bev has been here many times in the past and she feels a special connection to this congregation. She always has something fascinating to share so we hope you will be there. Looking ahead, the holy season of Lent begins Ash Wednesday, February 10 th. Join us for worship that evening at 7:00. Book Club Meets January 14 The Book Club will meet again on Tuesday, January 14 th, to discuss The Rosie Project by Australian author Graeme Simsion. It s the story of Don Tillman, a brilliant yet socially inept professor of genetics who decided it s time he found a wife. In the orderly, evidence-based manner with which Don approaches all things, he designs the Wife Project to find his perfect partner: a 16-page, scientifically valid survey to filter out all undesirable candidates. As you can probably guess, things don t go according to plan. Join us for a discussion of this best-selling romantic comedy. The book is available in hardcover, paperback and Kindle versions. Mesa MLK Parade January 18 Monday, January 18 th, is the day we honor the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The City of Mesa s annual parade kicks off at 11:00 a.m.; the route is down Center Street from University Drive to First Avenue (just a little over 1/2 mile). We will carpool from church at 9:30 a.m. OR you can meet us at the SE corner of Center Street & University by 10:30 a.m. A sign-up sheet can be found in the kitchen beginning January 3 rd so sign up and march with us!

4 Page 4 January 2016 Annual Congregational Meeting January 31 ANNUAL MEETING Our annual congregational meeting will be held on Sunday, January 31 st, immediately following the worship. The main purpose of the meeting is to review annual reports submitted by the various committees and boards of the church as well as the annual end-of-year financial statements. Committee chairs are reminded that the deadline for submitting reports to Kent is Friday, January 15 th. Hygiene Kit Update Our Homeless Outreach Project supplying hygiene kits and other items for homeless persons suffering with serious mental illnesses has been blessed with generous contributions and support recently: The Volunteer Nonprofit Service Association (the group that holds the annual used book sale at the fairgrounds) chose the project as their Christmas charity this year. Beverly and Marlin were invited to talk about the project at their party and to collect many hygiene kit items as well as $400 in gift cards which the PATH team will give to clients for household items when they move into homes. The HERO club at Dobson High is helping assemble the kits plus they are pre-assembling the small bags of items that go into them. The Mental Health Guild has purchased a shed to store more of our supplies. Celebration of Life Church provides the space and members and friends provide most of the labor. We can be proud of our continued support of this worthy project. Thank You for Your Fry s Support Between September 1 st and November 30 th seven households from Celebration of Life shopped at local Fry s food stores, using the Fry s Rewards program. Their purchases resulted in a donation of $50.93 to the church for this quarter. It s not too late to add your name to the list! Signing up is easy on the Fry s website (or click here). Our group number is A Note from the Pastor (continued from page 1) working in the areas of homelessness and poverty in the LGBTQ community, serving LGBTQ refugees and immigrants, and providing services for LGBTQ youth. It just may be that this is one way that God may be calling you into the next chapter of your ministry. On a more personal level, I want to wish each and every one of you a healthy, happy, prosperous, lovely New Year. May 2016 be filled with blessings for each of you and for all those whom you love. And I want to thank you all for the amazing generosity of your Christmas gift to me. It has always been and will continue to be a great honor to serve among you. Shalom, Shelly

5 Volume 7, Issue 1 Page 5 You Gave Nine Grateful Families a Blessed Christmas from Judy For the past 10 years Celebration of Life has been providing food boxes and gifts for families selected by the PATH Homeless Outreach Team. In just the last 2 years, we were able to include 2-3 families from Guadalupe. They were the most grateful and expressed their appreciation for everything they received. When the PATH team we had been working with lost their national contract this year, I spoke with Carolyn Lower of Guadalupe Presbyterian (our sister church) in October about contacting Guadalupe families from her church she could recommend for our Adopt a Family Christmas Mission Project. But for the past few years Gilbert Presbyterian Church has given toys at Christmas to over 100 children whose requests through Guadalupe Presbyterian Church were on their Angel Tree. table for each family's gifts and food boxes, as well as tables for refreshments and for stuffed animals. We also had a clothing bank of donated used clothes and shoes sorted by sizes for anyone who wanted them. All but one adopted family came to the party. They thought they might get a couple of items of clothing, since Jamie had asked their sizes. No one expected the food boxes. One mother saw the food and gifts on the table with their family name and asked in disbelief, Is all this for us? A grandmother who was supporting several children, grandchildren and great grandchildren took home about half of the used clothing to be able to give them something for Christmas. The children who came were all well behaved and delighted with their gifts. With Christmas decorations, homemade cookies and Peggy playing Christmas music, it was a special Holiday Party for everyone. This Christmas Mission Project was the most successful one we have had since I started it in It could not have been possible without the help of all of you-- those who made financial contributions or adopted family members, those who donated food items to help fill the food boxes, those who transported food and gifts to Guadalupe, those who made cookies and those who helped with the party. Carolyn said there were many families in the Guadalupe area who were struggling to make ends meet and whose children would have no Christmas. She suggested since Jamie and her family are familiar with the area, she might be willing to identify the neediest families to get information about their sizes and needs. Jamie agreed and began working with Guadalupe Social Services to select families CoL could adopt. Their stories were heart-rending. Some of the parents wanted nothing for themselves. They just wanted their kids to receive a Christmas gift. A few families asked for space heaters, pillows and blankets because they had no heat in their homes. On December 6 and 13, 39 members and friends attending CoL signed up to help adopt 9 families (38 children and 19 adults). Every child and adult would receive gifts, and each family would get food boxes. Jose of On the Way Ministries and his family participated again this year, providing gifts for one of the families. Carolyn graciously offered to let us take everything for the families to Guadalupe Presbyterian and set up a Special thanks go to Jamie for working with Social Services and contacting the families, to Elly for all the computer work and organization and making sure everyone received gifts and food, to Loren for reinforcing and decorating the boxes for food and gifts, to Susan and Dayspring Preschool and Kindergarten for giving blankets for the families and enough stuffed animals for everyone who came to the party, to Chris for taking pictures, to Peggy for providing live music at the party, to ASAP for their generous financial contribution, and to Carolyn and Guadalupe Presbyterian Church for providing time and space for the party. Thank you all for caring and sharing!

6 Page 6 December in Pictures: Adopted Families January 2016

7 Volume 7, Issue 1 Page 7 December in Pictures: Scheman Open House, Caroling, Cookies, Christmastide

8 Celebration of Life Presbyterian Church 2530 S Alma School Rd Mesa, Arizona Arise, Your Light Is Come! Celebration of Life Presbyterian Church USA (480) (480) fax Newsletter items due the last Friday of each month. January Birthdays 4 Reagan 4 Rochelle 9 Isabella 12 Linda W. 13 Myra Prayer Requests 17 Don 20 Melinda 21 Jane 22 Joe 24 Meiny Celebration of Life has been called by God to be a congregation that welcomes and fully values all persons. Our diversity is a gift of God and essential to our witness to the Gospel. For healing for Kathryn For successful eye surgery for Berta For safety and peace for our communities and our world For those with coughs, colds, the flu, or other seasonal ailments For wisdom for the Session as they take first steps in the Pastor Search process Visit Us on the Web and on Facebook For those who are cold, hungry, or homeless, that they find a warm place, a warm meal, and warm hearts to greet them celebration.of.life.pcusa