November 2014 Newsletter

Transcription

1 Kathwood Baptist Church November 2014 Newsletter Published Advent Begins November 30 By: Burt Pardue, Music Minister I m sure you ve heard the news Christmas is coming! Yes, you ve heard it because the commercials and ads and stores everywhere are already promoting the holiday; and it seems the push begins earlier and earlier. The culture of the holiday has eclipsed the season of Advent, and, indeed, even the birth of Christ. It seems to be all about things earthly instead of the holy. Advent is, or should be, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christ s birth on Christmas. For Christians it is also a time of acknowledging the story of Christ s second coming. The lectionary readings for Advent contain scriptures for both. Many churches sing only Advent-focused hymns during the season and save all of the Christmas hymns for the season of Christmas (December 24 Epiphany on January 6). We are a bit more pragmatic in our worship planning at Kathwood, knowing that we are postbirth / post-resurrection Christians and acknowledging our strong desire to sing those Christmas carols and hymns so dear to our hearts. This Advent season, as in years past, we ll be singing both Advent and Christmas hymns during Advent and Christmas hymns during the Christmas season. Using our new hymnal, we will also sing some hymns that may be unfamiliar to some of us. No matter the hymn Advent or Christmas, familiar or unfamiliar these hymns will help us prepare our hearts and minds for the coming of our Savior. Two special music events coming in December: On, December 10, at 6:30 p.m., our preschoolers, children and youth will present a Christmas pageant, The Living Crèche the retelling of the story Christ s birth through scripture and familiar carols. On, December 14, at 11 a.m., the Chancel Choir and congregation will celebrate Advent through a service of Lessons & Carols. The service of Nine Lessons and Carols began in Cornwall, England in Today it is celebrated by Christian congregations around the world. There will also be lots of music on the other s of Advent and we ll sing lots of familiar carols during the Christmas Eve Communion service, December 24, at 5:30 p.m. Inside this issue: Prayer List 2 Volunteer Schedule 2 Updates from the Deacons 3 Preschool News 3 Kathwood Youth News 4 Church Calendar Financial Plan 6 School News 6 Leadership Council 7 Special Points of Interest: James Cobb Retires All Saints 11/2 Fall Mission Projects A Note from our Pastor Closing the Gap Night Programs and Menus Financial Update

2 P a g e 2 Prayer List As part of your covenant to support Kathwood, please pray daily for these members and ministries. N o v e m b e r N e w s l e t t e r Nov. 2 8 Cardell Bunch Discipleship Min. Team Ken Zuercher Young Adult Class Ann Matthews New Beginnings Class Daniel Monteith Cola. Metro Food Bank Beth McConnell, Pastor Acolytes Sally Aldridge Deacons Bob Coleman Ladies' Craft Group Nov Orey Gracey Missions Ministry Team Nancy Brown Life App. Class Doris Willis Elementary Class Tandy McConnell St. Lawrence Place Andy Peacock Kathwood Youth Bob Bell, Property Chair Leadership Council Sylvia Greene Chancel Choir Nov Beth Zuercher Worship Ministry Team Rita Dickerson Lois Class Claire McConnell Preschool SS Class Carl Corwin Samaritan s Purse Ann Peacock Outreach Comm. Johnny Massengill Greeters John Bradley Homebound Members Nov Kenneth Huggins Social Ministry Team Lucille Hoffman Faith Class Quentin Oswalt Youth Class Brie White Women s Shelter Henry Cobb, Custodian Kathwood Preschool Mark Tidsworth Church Staff Miriam Shevenell Children s Choirs Nov. 30 Dec. 6 Melanie Tidsworth Family Ministry Team Jenna Vaughn Friendship Class Masako Gracey Kathwood Preschool Margaret Penland CBF of SC John Ledell, Custodian Property Comm. Joyce Morgan Children s Missions Mason Nettles Preschool Teachers T hank y ou Volunteers! Serving on November 2 Deacons: Elna Corwin, Pam Greenlaw, Cheryl Page, Justin Stillabower Greeters: Betty Friedman & Kay Hall Outreach: Beth Zuercher Ext. Care: Tressa Oswalt Acolyte: Rivers Stork Narthex Fellowship: Nancy Brown Children s Sermon: Jenna Vaughn Serving on November 16 Deacons: Elna Corwin, Hayden Howell, Cheryl Page, Pat Prather Greeters: Nancy Bettis, Betty Friedman Outreach: Nancy Bettis Ext. Care: Dave & Kelly Strum Acolyte: Claire McConnell Narthex Fellowship: Pat Prather, Lee Waters Children s Sermon: Justin Stillabower Serving on November 30 Deacons: Hazel Monteith, Robert Oswalt, Justin Stillabower, Ken Zuercher Greeters: Robert & Debra Young Outreach: Betty LeClair Ext. Care: Sally Aldridge Acolyte: Quentin Oswalt Narthex Fellowship: Tressa Oswalt Children s Sermon: Carrie Nettles Serving on November 9 Deacons: Hazel Monteith, Robert Oswalt, Robert Young, Ken Zuercher Greeters: Rob & Jenna Vaughn Outreach: Nancy Brown Ext. Care: Pam Greenlaw Acolyte: Quentin Oswalt Narthex Fellowship: Sherry Roberts Children s Sermon: Kelly Strum Serving on November 23 Deacons: Bob Bell, Pam Greenlaw, Cheryl Page, Robert Young Greeters: Fred & Peggy Chason Outreach: Pam Greenlaw Ext. Care: Rita Dickerson Acolyte: Rivers Stork Narthex Fellowship: Elna Corwin & Betty LeClair Children s Sermon: Jenna Vaughn THANK YOU

3 Updates from the Diaconate P a g e 3 Mission Team: Pam Greenlaw and Rob Oswalt are leading the mission ministry focus for Thanksgiving Baskets for the 28 families at St. Lawrence Place and Warmth ministry from November through January 2015, collecting winter coats, winter gloves, winter hats, ear muffs, blankets, sweaters, wool socks: winter clothes items all sizes. Social Ministry Team: Cheryl and Elna are planning the Church-wide Thanksgiving/Quarterly Family Dinner for, November 19. Please plan on bringing meat, vegetable, salad or dessert to share with your church family. Drinks will be provided by the church. Family Ministry Team: Ken and Justin are working with the Preschool in preparation for the Preschool Fall Festival, November 15, supporting their plans. Worship Ministry Team: Hazel is completing the compilation of vital information for the Greeters and Deacons. This notebook will be housed in the Narthex credenza. Discipleship Ministry Team: Hazel continues to work with Kelly supporting the School teachers and classes and curriculum. The Deacon Meetings: November 16 and December 14 at 12:15PM in the Fellowship Hall. For the December 14 meeting the newly elected Deacons for 2015 are invited and the election of Deacon officers and Ministry Team chairperson will be determined for By: Jennifer Williams, Director Hello Church family! It has been right at three months since I started in this new position and it has been so much fun! I ve always said that the best part of my job is that I can get out of the office and go outside to swing, and I do! It s wonderful! The church family and preschool family have been so nice and welcoming, I feel like I ve been here for ages. We have been very busy here the last few months. Starting school and planning events for the next few months! We have a Halloween Parade and trunk or treat on the 31 st and of course the Fall Festival which will be on November 15 th! I am so excited about it! I hope that a lot of you will be able to attend, and maybe even help out with a few of our stations. I look forward to seeing you around the school! James Cobb Retires After 29 years at Kathwood, James Cobb has retired. James was our Night Cook and also served as a custodian for our preschool. On, November 2, we want to honor James and his family during the morning worship service. Please join us as we celebrate his many years of service to Kathwood and thank James for a job well done!

4 P a g e 4 N o v e m b e r N e w s l e t t e r Kathwood Youth By: Justin Stillabower, Youth Director This Fall, Kathwood Youth Group started a new School curriculum. It is lectionary based and includes Bible study, activities, and thoughtful prayers. During the month of September, we studied God's creation and ways to protect it. That included recycling, reusing, and being aware of our environment around us. The youth group would like to make their lives greener as well as help the church to be more Earth-friendly. Youth Choir has been in full effect for a couple months now. We are diligently preparing for Advent Season and Festival by the Sea, and we have already sung on mornings. Its hard to believe, but talks of Montreat over the summer have already begun in the youth group. They had such a great time this past summer, and they already want to go back. With Advent season approaching, the youth will be active in worship and music programs, so look for the youth in the choir loft! Mission Projects Thanksgiving Baskets for St. Lawrence Place Kathwood will be providing Thanksgiving boxes to 28 families at St Lawrence Place. Please bring your donations of food (lists available at the Missions Tables upstairs and down) by November 23. Monetary donations to purchase food are being accepted in the church office. The shortfall in the church budget will not allow the church to purchase full Thanksgiving meals this year. The good news is, members of the Missions Team are working to secure donations of fresh produce from grocers and farmers' markets for the boxes. The boxes may be smaller this year, but we intend to share Jesus' love in as personal a way as we can to these families in transition. Warmth Drive Kathwood is starting the Warmth Drive this year earlier than in the past. Our strategy this year is to allow our members to start looking around their houses for blankets and warm clothes to be given to those less fortunate. Since the drive will extend through January, we will be able to watch for sales on items like gloves and winter hats. Please look around your house or even garage and estate sales for items to donate. Thanks for your participation. Time is running out to order your poinsettias. The plants are placed in the sanctuary in honor or memory of a loved one and a special bulletin will be printed listing the names. This is a lovely way to decorate our sanctuary for the Advent season and you can take your plant home after the Christmas Eve service. The price is $12.50/ plant. Just make your check payable to the church and fill out an order form by 11/10. They are on the table beside the church office. Operation Christmas Child Boxes Reminder: Please bring your OCC shoeboxes to the church by November 17th. We will take them to the collection site in Columbia that week. This is a great way to bring joy to children all over the world!

5 S u n M o n Tue W e d Thu F r i S a t Thanksgiving Food Drive for St. Lawrence Place November Turn back y our clocks tonight 2 P l e d g e S u n d a y E l e c t i o n S u n d a y 10 Poinsettia orders due 11 6 p m L C M e e t i n g : 1 5 D e a c o n s M e e t i n g 17 Last day to bring shoeboxes Church-wide Thanksgiving Covered Dish Dinner Bring your Thanksgiving canned goods Thanksgiving Box Delivery 6 p C h o i r r e h e a r s a l 26 N o e v e n i n g a c t i v i t i e s A d v e n t b e g i n s Special Days This Month Birthdays Anniversaries 2 Cardell Bunch 18 Ken & Beth Zuercher 3 Anne Matthews, Ken Zuercher 24 R.D. & Sherry Roberts 5 Daniel Monteith 9 Orey Gracey 13 Andy Peacock 16 Beth Zuercher 18 Rita Dickerson, Claire McConnell 19 Carl Corwin, Ann Peacock 22 John Bradley, Kenneth Huggins, Johnny Massengill 24 Lucille Hoffman 28 Mark Tidsworth 30 Melanie Tidsworth

6 P a g e 6 Closing the Gap By: Peggy Powell-Chason, Stewardship Chair This year was a very challenging budgeting process. Preparing for 2015, the Stewardship Committee looked at our 5 year plan that started in 2014 and considered what we must do as a congregation to close the gap on our deficient budget for the next four years. We are very blessed to have a long range plan made possible by of two families who loved Kathwood and wanted the church to continue to be a viable place of worship. With their generous donations, we were able to bring a wonderful, compassionate minister, who loves our congregation and community, to help us share the Kathwood message. Again, I say, the members of Kathwood are very blessed to be where we are today. I hope each of you have reviewed the budget, and are planning on making your pledge on November 2. This year has been one of celebration for our church. You can feel the renewed excitement and the sense of community. For this excitement to continue, we must as members ask, What we are doing to spread our message? What are we doing to be good stewards of Kathwood? In preparing for my own budget next year, I looked to see if there was any way I could increase my donations for Do I really need to have 2 Starbucks drinks every week? Increasing giving could be that simple. The extra $10.00 a week pledged to Kathwood will do more for me personally and spiritually than those 2 Frappuccino's. As a congregation, we must be looking for ways to close the gap. This year we are reaching to increase the donations to the church by 10%, or approximately $25,000 more in donations in I sincerely believe that this is possible. Through careful management of your offerings, Leadership and Stewardship are committed to guiding Kathwood to sound financial footing. This can t happen unless each member is willing to find a way to contribute more each week, starting the journey of closing the gap between our donations and budget. We can reach the goal of our 5 year plan with everyone s participation. Special thanks to members of the Stewardship Committee: Dave Strum, Lee Waters, Beth McConnell, Ken Zuercher, Fred Chason and Sherry Bomar. Our goal is to become more active as a Committee to spread our message. As we enter into 2015 with the challenge of being good stewards, we ask that you join us in our journey. Kathwood is blessed and may our blessings continue. Blessings! Peggy By: Kelly Strum, School Director I am happy to announce that as a result of our new Seasons of the Spirit School curriculum, a new recycling program is soon to be launched at Kathwood! The three classes who are using this curriculum enjoyed thinking through earth stewardship issues during the month of September. We have a new partnership now with Paper Stock Dealers of Columbia (Sonoco) who will be providing us with 2 recycling bins (free!) and they will pick up the bins each time they are full (free!). Isn t this an awesome community service that Sonoco provides? Kathwood will be one of several green congregations who use their service. You will find one of the bins in our office workroom. A list of recyclable objects for this bin will be placed on the wall beside it. The other bin will be in our kitchen in order to collect exclusively plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Other School news The Young Adult class had a great time getting together for a social on, October 17 and also hosting a baby shower for the Vaughn Family on the, October 19! We want to send out a huge thank you to all of those who helped us with food preparation and to the many church members who came to celebrate the arrival of little baby Nora just around the corner!

7 Leadership Council P a g e 7 By: John Bradley, LC Chair This past weekend I went to Target to stock up on Halloween Candy in anticipation for night s onslaught of trick or treaters. I was surprised to see that most of the candy had been pushed into a corner to make way for Christmas. Thanksgiving, still a month away, was nowhere to be seen. While retailers may be rushing us through the rest of 2014, there s plenty going on at Kathwood between now and December 31. On, November 2, we will honor James Cobb who recently retired after 29 years as Kathwood s cook. We have been very blessed by James hard work and dedication (as well as his culinary skills in preparing delicious meals). I know that you will want to be present at Church on the as we honor James for all of his years of service to Kathwood. This, November 2, also is Pledge. We will adopt and pledge our Church s 2015 budget. You should have received a copy of the budget and a pledge card in the mail. Pledge cards also will be available at the church. Please plan to attend and keep this very important in your prayers. The next, November 9, we will elect new members to the Leadership Council and the Deaconate. Don t forget that we are taking donations for St. Lawrence Place in November. And last, but certainly not least, our Fall Festival will be held with the Kathwood Preschool on, November 15. As you can see, there s still a lot to look forward to at Kathwood in 2014! A Note from Beth My Dear Friends, Physical challenges face each of us, sooner or later. As you know, the past few weeks have been filled with a roller coaster of emotions for me. The word cancer is never welcome news. Indeed, it is frightening to hear and comprehend. The good news is that the prognosis is very optimistic. There are not adequate words to express the love and support my family and I have received. The prayers and many other acts of love have so blessed us that I often find myself engulfed by your constant presence. Thank you! Again you demonstrate what it means to be church family. I am truly blessed. A big thanks to the many ways folks have stepped in to lead at Kathwood. As always, Valerie Reed keeps the daily work of the church on task. Burt Pardue has kept worship filled with creativity and integrity. Carrie Nettles, Marion Aldridge, Kelly Strum, John Bradley, and Nancy Brown have provided pastoral leadership and ministry. And as always, many others continue to reach out to us and to one another as Christian brothers and sisters. Tangible expressions of love: childcare, food, flowers, cards, gifts, phone calls, texts, s, abound. We are blessed at Kathwood. There is a richness of individuals sharing their lives together that cannot be duplicated. Nor should it be taken for granted. It is one of our greatest treasures. I will be back with you soon! In the meantime, know that you have been and will continue to be in my thoughts and prayers. I lift our congregation to God each day, asking for continued strength, guidance, and blessing. You are never far from my heart. Much love, Beth All Saints Join together for a special hour of worship this, November 2. We will remember those who have gone before us, celebrate Holy Communion, pledge toward our 2015 ministry budget, honor James Cobb, and welcome Rev. Jay Kieve as proclaimer. It s an important day!

8 Kathwood Baptist Church 4900 Trenholm Road Columbia, SC Phone: On the web: kathwoodbaptist.org Wedne sd ay Nights Do you know who you are? Are you embarrassed to tell someone that you are Baptist? Can you explain why you choose to be Baptist? We have a rich, intentional heritage that many faithful Baptist Christians have sacrificed to preserve. Some even gave their lives for the freedoms we value. Join us as we learn and discuss our Baptist identity. Nights: 6:30-7:15 Teacher: Dr. Tandy McConnell November 5 Helpers: Team #5 November 12 Helpers: Team #6 November 19 Helpers: Team #1 Menus To be announced Pat Prather & Lee Waters To be announced Pam Greenlaw & Cheryl Page Thanksgiving Supper Bob Bell & Marilyn Maddox Financial Update 2014 Weekly Budget Needs: $6, Contributions October 5 $ 15, October 12 2, October 19 5, October 26 3, YTD given: $ 184, YTD budget: $ 300, CBF State Missions $ 2, Thank you for your generous support of the Beverly Greer State Missions Offering. Because of you, we surpassed our goal of $2000, furthering the work of the CBF throughout the state. You also enabled the children of Kathwood to cover their missions posters in almost all of the sparkly stuff in the resource room and even some sparkly duct tape!