From my house to yours, Merry Christmas! Christ s Peace, Pastor Keith. President s Points

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1 The Messenger: December 2014 In This Month s Issue: From the Pastor, President s Points Page 1 Birthdays, Prayer Requests Page 2 Ministries, Announcements Page 3-5 Calendar Page 6 School News Page 7 ST. JAMES LUTHERAN CHURCH MISSION STATEMENT Called by God, centered in the Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we rejoice in the Lord, proclaim His gift of Grace through liturgical worship and service and share Christ s love and forgiveness in all we do. The Reverend Keith Getz, Pastor revgetz@yahoo.com Sunday Worship: 10:00 AM Sunday School: 9:00 AM Wednesday: 10:30 AM: Bible Study (Library) & Noon: Holy Communion Service St. James Lutheran Church 1137 Alice Drive Sumter, SC Office: stjamesoffice@sc.rr.com Church Office Hours: 8:30 am - 12:30 pm Monday Friday St. James Lutheran School Words from your Pastor Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world...and it was said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens Scrooge's transformation in this beloved Christmas classic has probably contributed more to shaping our society's notion of Christmas than Luke's account of the birth of Christ. Dickens' message in his Christmas Carol is that it is better to give than receive. At Christmas, even the stingiest Scrooges seem to give. Christmas is the season of giving. A Christmas Carol appeals to us I think because it reinforces how we see ourselves. We like to pridefully see ourselves as self sufficient givers. We like to think we are the ones who have the means to give. But, Luke's account of the birth of Jesus is counter cultural and paints a different picture. His story is not about us giving. His story is about us receiving. We receive the gift of the Christ child, a babe in a manger. Only when we can fully accept that we are the receivers of this undeserving, unmerited gift, can we fully give with generous, selfless hearts. We have been given reconciliation to God, redemption, salvation, and transformation not because we earned it, but because God wanted us to have it. He loves us. Out of Christ's poverty in a manger, Christ gives us the riches of eternal life now and forever. May we never think of ourselves too pridefully and never forget that we, too, needed and still need the gift of abundant life poured out upon us by the Triune God. From my house to yours, Merry Christmas! Christ s Peace, Pastor Keith President s Points This year has gone by very fast to say the least. Looking back at the past year, there were a lot of good things that have been accomplished. Brandy continues to grow and expand our school at a manageable pace. Our Scouting program has become one of the elite troops in Sumter. From the Cub Scouts to the Boy Scouts, Chip Kelly has done a great job making sure Christ is included in all they do. With our facilities, we installed a covered walkway to the school, upgraded our phone systems for the school and the office, and changed our lighting systems to be more energy efficient. However, we still have several projects on our list which include our main focus of repainting the outside of the building once the road construction is done. I would like to say thank you to Jimmy Lee, Carl Simpson, and Tim Tidwell for all your work and support while on Council. We have finished next year s budget and await the new Council members to continue our work for God. May God's peace be with you always, Brian Crawshaw Council President

2 Let us Pray 3 rd Betty Myers 8 th Judy Lessard 12 th Liam Getz, Judith Terry 15 th Harold Chandler 17 th Keith Hamm 19 th Dot Weishuhn, Chris Oliver 21 st Catherine Moore 24 th Jim Bradshaw 26 th Arletta Price 27 th Margaret Taylor 28 th Carol Ziecker 31 st Cubby Fowler In nursing homes: Don Hoyt For healing: Dot Barrineau Nit Cohen (Kim Strange s sister) Lu & Ray Davenport Lee Haas Ernie Reed (son-in-law of Florence Piver) Kathy Schaefer (Lionel & Shirley s daughter) Trish Macerelli (Karen Bailey s daughter) Margaret Lutz Debbie Ketterer Chris Morse ST. JAMES LUTHERAN CHURCH MISSION STATEMENT Called by God, centered in the Word and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we rejoice in the Lord, proclaim His gift of Grace through liturgical worship and service and share Christ s love and forgiveness in all we do.

3 TALENTS SCHEDULE ACOLYTE AND CRUCIFER SCHEDULE: December 7: Acolyte: Ashley Crawshaw Crucifer: Savannah Grace Stewart Attendant: Karen Hesselbart December 14: Acolyte: Andrew Bratton Crucifer: Thomas Hart Attendant: Lisa Bratton December 21: Acolyte: Owen Getz Crucifer: Christian Strange Attendant: Kim Strange Christmas Eve: Acolyte: Andrew Bratton Crucifer: Savannah Grace Stewart Attendant: Kim Strange & Lisa Bratton 8:00 pm Torch Bearers: Ashley Crawshaw & Caroline Getz Bible Bearer: Christian Strange December 28: Acolyte: Caroline Getz Crucifer: Annah Beck Attendant: Karen Hesselbart LITURGIST & CA SCHEDULE: December 7: Liturgist: Kimberly Dees CAs: Gary Harbath & Harold Chandler December 14: Liturgist: Hugh China CAs: Mildred Tietjen & Cheryl Schmeling December 21: Liturgist: Jim Bradshaw CAs: Karen Bailey & Bob Bessel December 24: Liturgist: Dick Rasmussen CAs: Gary Harbath & Harold Chandler December 28: Liturgist: Karen Hesselbart CAs: Judith Terry & Bob Summers LAYREADER SCHEDULE: December 7: John Kinser December 14: Bill Ketterer December 21: Bob Summers December 24: Susan Caulkins December 28: Kimberly Dees CHILDREN S SERMON SCHEDULE: December 7: Lisa Bratton December 14: Elton Hallman December 21: Pastor Keith December 24: Pastor Keith December 28: Karen Hesselbart ALTAR CARE: DECEMBER: Judith Terry, Arletta Price & Nancy McElveen USHER SCHEDULE: December 7 & 14: Max Schmeling & Ford Kamin December 21 & 28: Eric Hutchison & Gary Harbath December 24: Eric Hutchison & Tim Tidwell COUNTER SCHEDULE: December 7: Eric Hutchison December 14: Steve Hamm December 21: Steve Hamm December 28: Susan Caulkins EVANGELISM GREETER SCHEDULE: December 7: Tim Tidwell & JoAnn Bruce December 14: John & Helen Kinser December 21: Eric & Paula Hutchison December 24: Lionel & Shirley Viens December 28: Bob & Jeanne Bessel If you will be unable to make it on a Sunday when you are serving please call the office: and let Stephanie know so that we can find a replacement and make the necessary changes to the bulletin.

4 ANNOUNCEMENTS New Request of Information for our Newsletter We will start recognizing our children s and our grandchildren s accomplishments in our monthly newsletter going forward. Our children are members of our Church as well and they should be praised for their achievements. We are interested in reporting information from the preschool age up to college age. Achievements can include good grades in school such as Honor Roll or Dean s list, sports, art contests, music, clubs and organizations such as Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, etc. We would also like to hear about community based projects that your child may be involved in. Please send all accomplishments to Shelley Crawshaw by . She will be handling the updates each month to have it included in the newsletter. When you are providing the information to Shelley, please include the full name of the child along with the name of the church member that they are related to. Then, briefly state the child s accomplishment and also include the name of the school or organization. Please have the information submitted to Shelley by the 15 th of every month so that it can be included in the newsletter of the following month. If needed, information can be provided to Stephanie in the church office by phone. Shelley s address is: scrawshaw@sc.rr.com We would like to recognize Caroline Getz for her upcoming acting debut. Caroline is the daughter of Pastor Keith and Laura Getz. She will be performing in the production of The Best of Christmas Pageant Ever at the Sumter Little Theater. We would like to invite everyone to come to one of the shows to enjoy a Christmas Spectacular. The play will be running from December 11 th - 14 th and also December 18 th - 21 st. We hope that you can make it. Congratulations to Caroline, we know that you will be great! We would also like to recognize Madison Crawshaw, daughter of Brian and Shelley Crawshaw. Madison (4 th Grader) made Headmaster s List (Straight A s) on her report card for the 1 st Quarter of the school year. Congratulations to you for a job well done! We will have Praise and Fellowship on Tuesday, December 2 nd from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. Please bring a snack to share. We will continue these monthly on the first Tuesday of each month. ADVENT SERVICES will be held on December 3 rd, 10 th, and 17 th at 7:00 p.m. You are cordially invited to the annual Festival of Choirs featuring music of the Christmas Season to be held next Sunday, December 7th at Trinity United Methodist Church at 3:00 p.m. St. James Choir will sing Silent Night, arranged by Philip Stopford. The Annual Congregational Meeting will be held on Sunday, December 14th. We will have a covered dish lunch following the service.

5 STAFF THANKS If you would like to give a gift to show appreciation to our staff for their dedication, leadership and professional excellence, please use the envelopes provided in the pews and mark your gift Staff Thank You. Caroling and Cocoa: Please plan to join us on Saturday, December 20 th for an afternoon of caroling. We will meet at the church at 2:00 for caroling at Covenant Place at 2:30. We will then travel to some of our shut ins and return to the church for cocoa and cookies. Please contact Laura Getz at if you plan to sing with us or if you would like to help set up or provide cookies for the fellowship time afterwards. St. James Lutheran Men The St. James Lutheran Men are no longer associated with the South Carolina Lutheran Men in Mission. We will continue our monthly meetings as before but monies collected at our dinner offerings will now go to a mission congregation(s) directly. There will not be a regular meeting or prayer breakfast in December. Our regular meetings are held the second Monday of the month at 7:00 PM in the fellowship hall. The prayer breakfasts are on the fourth Tuesday of the month at 8:00 AM at the Guignard Diner. The next dinner meeting will be Monday, January 12th. Every man at St. James is cordially invited for dinner and fellowship. John Kinser RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE: Pastor Keith always encourages us to be open to the Spirit and where it is moving and guiding us to proclaim the gospel through helping out others. We also seek opportunities to join with our other brothers and sisters in Christ for our common goal of furthering the work of God s love in Christ Jesus. Please mark your calendars for two very important dates: Sunday, January 18 th and Sunday, June 28 th We will join with Immanuel Lutheran Church and sponsor our Annual Blood Drive on Sunday, January 18 th from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm here at St. James. To be a successful community project, this Blood Drive requires each of us to participate. The need for blood donations remains in our community. Each donation may save up to three lives. This is our community project. Please participate if you are able on Sunday, January 18 th right after Church.

6 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 7 9:00 AM Sunday School for All Ages 10:00 AM Traditional 3:00 PM Festival of Choirs (Trinity UMC) 14 9:00 AM Sunday School for All Ages 10:00 AM Traditional 1 6:00 PM Afternoon Music Club practice :00 PM Council Meeting (Library) 1:00 PM Lula June Circle Luncheon at Simply Southern Bistro 6:30 PM Praise & Fellowship (FSH) 5:30 PM Girl Scout Troop #1315 (FSH) 6:00 PM Worship Team Meeting (Parlor) 16 7:00 PM Boy Scouts Order of Arrow Mtg. (FSH) 3 10:30 AM Bible Study (Library) 12:00 PM Holy 7:00 PM First ADVENT Service 7:00 PM Choir Practice 7:00 PM Jewelry Making Group (Library) 10 10:30 AM Bible Study (Library) 12:00 PM Holy 7:00 PM Advent Service 7:00 PM Choir Practice 7:00 PM Jewelry Making Group (Library) 17 10:30 AM Bible Study (Library) 12:00 PM Holy :00 PM Cub Scouts Pack #305 7:00 PM Boy Scouts Troop #305 (FSH) 6:00 PM Cub Scouts Pack #305 7:00 PM Boy Scouts Troop #305 (FSH) 7:00 PM School Board Ministry Tm. (Library) 18 6:00 PM Cub Scouts Pack #305 7:00 PM Boy Scouts Troop #305 (FSH) 5 6:00 PM Senior Members Christmas Party (FSH) :00 AM Prayer Fellowship 9:00 AM Prayer Fellowship 9:00 AM Prayer Fellowship 11:30 AM Annual Congregational Meeting (FSH) 21 9:00 AM Sunday School for All Ages 10:00 AM Traditional :00 AM Lutheran Men's Breakfast (Guignard Diner) 7:00 PM Advent Service 7:00 PM Choir Practice 7:00 PM Jewelry Making Group (Library) :30 PM Caroling at Covenant Place 9:00 AM Prayer Fellowship 12:00 PM FSH Reserved 28 9:00 AM Sunday School for All Ages 10:00 AM Traditional CHRISTMAS EVE

7 St. James Lu heran School Where Jesus is Lord and His children grow in grace, truth, and knowledge 1137A Alice Drive Sumter, SC Phone: Dear Church Members, I am so excited about Christmas being right around the corner. Our children are focusing this month on a spirit of celebration of Christ s birth and on following the example He gave us of caring for others. For our service project for the month of December we will be adopting families for Christmas. Please stop by our Advent tree in the educational wing after December 1 st. On the back of each ornament you will find a current need of our family in need this year. You may bring your gift to the school office. Please wrap the gift and place the tag from the tree on the top of it. If you wish to receive a gift acknowledgement, please put your name on the gift. Monetary donations are accepted as well. Thank you for your support in all of our service projects this year. SJLS and Boy Scouts Troop 305. We than Brandy Mullennax

8 ST JAMES LUTHERAN CHURCH 1137 Alice Drive Sumter, SC Return Service Requested Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Permit 105 Sumter, SC Office: Church office hours: 8:30am-12:30pm Monday through Friday The Reverend Keith Getz, Pastor St. James Lutheran School SERVICES: Wednesday: 10:30AM--Bible Study Noon--Holy Sunday School for All Ages: 9:00 AM Sunday Worship Service: 10:00 AM