United Church of Christ-Congregational The Lighted Window

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1 Pa1 United Church of Christ-Congregational The Lighted Window Celebrating 152 years of faithful service for Christ and the Church January 2011 Sunday Worship Time Interim/Transitional Pastor 10:00am Donnamae Craber Grannemann Children s Class 10:15am Phone & Fax Cell phone Office Administrator - donnamaeg@gorge.net Sally Forster Website- secretary@uccthedalles.org Webmaster- Mark Ulrich Hours: M-Th 9am-12:30pm Wishing you a Blessed New Year! ANNUAL MEETING & POTLUCK JANUARY 16 AFTER WORSHIP The Annual Meeting & Potluck is scheduled MLK Day Monday, January 16 Noon For Sunday, January 16, immediately after worship. Speaker this year is Amanda Aguilar-Shank from the Rural Organizing Project (ROP). She will be focusing on a current civil rights struggle, that of immigrants. A soup luncheon will follow in the Roberts Hospitality Room. If you need to return to work, you may take your soup and other items with you. Don t miss this special annual event!

2 Pa2 Donnamae s Interim Diary Faith Borne Out of Suffering Happy New Year! As we ponder starting over with a fresh page, it is helpful to recall the events of the past few weeks as we celebrated Jesus Birth. This event had both a positive and a negative impact on the part of the world where he was born and raised. Abuse of power, brutality, selfish greed and lack of regard for the value of human life and dignity were constant themes of reality back then. Yet, in the worst of times, those who can manage a positive outlook tend to bring a healthy perspective to life in faith and all of creation. It was good to be reminded in worship readers theatre of the circumstances which inspired a couple of our great Christmas carols. One dramatized how Isaac Watts was plagued by ill health and was not physically attractive, yet out of his faith and amidst suffering and loneliness, he penned the words to some of Christendom s most incredible carols and hymns, like: Joy to the World!; We re Marching to Zion; Jesus Shall Reign; When I Survey the Wondrous Cross; There s a Wideness In God s Mercy; My Shepherd, You Supply My Need; and O God, Our Help In Ages Past. What a gift to the ages! Some great-looking person with robust health sitting in the lap of luxury might not be so inspired. Life can be our greatest teacher. Through all the ups and downs, the Spirit of God in Christ is always with us. We can allow ourselves to be defeated, or we can share our faith stories in word and deed, and in so doing, encourage others. We may not create a hymn text, compose a tune or write a book, but it is possible to make an impact by identifying what gifts we do have and using them. The Other Wise Man didn t have any idea he was serving the promised King his entire life by his sacrificial giving to care for others. As the story goes, he finally came face to face with Jesus on the cross, apologizing for having no gift for him. But Jesus acknowledged that the other wise man had been giving all along as he cared for the least of these. (Matthew 25: 34-40) It is my prayer as we begin a new year that joyous faith and witness may emerge in each one of us. Blessings, Donnamae

3 Pa3 Welcome New Members! Andrea Beverly [Roberts] Johnson was received into the membership of UCCC on Thursday, December 23, 2010, at Columbia Basin Care Facility, where she has resided for the past six years as a result of advancing M.S Those present from UCCC were Yvonne Scheradella, Joy Krein, Glenn Grannemann and Pastor Donnamae. Andrea s father was a member at UCCC as a young person, so, in a sense, she is returning to her roots. Angela was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul s Episcopal Church here in The Dalles. She likes to go to the coast, anywhere you can take a wheelchair, likes to be out and about, go to the local stores to look around. She enjoys Bingo several afternoons a week. Andrea has an adult son and daughter in their thirties. She is unable to attend activities at our worship site, as there is no wheelchair accessible transportation on weekends, but we take her communion and she attends the worship at CBCF when we are scheduled there. She would welcome your visits to her in Room 125, as she loves company. Her birthday is August 21. Deidre Fay [Langley] Baumgarten was welcomed into membership on Sunday, November 14, 2010, as she transferred back to UCCC from First Congregational UCC in Sonoma, California. She is married to John and they have two lovely younger children, Annika and Logan. The Baumgartens reside at 1624 E 11 th St. Deidra is a fulltime student at CGCC in Accounting and working toward her Bachelor s degree in Business. She anticipates receiving her certificate in June, and then continuing on with her studies elsewhere. She is also a gymnastics coach at Riverside Gymnastics Academy and travels around judging gymnastics competitions in Oregon. Once in awhile she gets to go to other USA cities to judge competitions. Annika is into gymnastics and ballet. Logan is into wrestling, gymnastics and baseball. John is working for The Chronicle and enjoys free lance 3-D Animation and Storyboard Artistry. As you can see, this is a very busy family. November December 5 55 December December December 26 42

4 Pa4 January Birthdays 2 Heather Thompson 11 Dorothy Kruger 15 R.J. Miles 22 Floyd Emerson 28 Helen Thomas 30 Yvonne Scheradella 30 Mollie Newton If your birthday is missing- please call the office Among the Flock & Friends (as of ) Tom Peachey now has his own law office in the Columbia Bank Building at 401 E 3 rd St, Suite #105 Phone ; tpeachey@thedalles-law.com; website: The renovation of the office space and relocation of items and staff was completed the end of December, If you haven t seen them much lately, it s because they have been busy. Congratulations Tom (and Sue!). Helen Haslett has been suffering from a great deal of physical pain and has been unable to be in worship the past three weeks. Visitors are welcome. Continued prayers for Gene Parker s father, Earle Parker, his secretary, Nancy Ayres; Bobbi Schultze, Karl Vercouteren s cousin, Carl Otte, Tim Willis, Elroy King, Sam Calvin, Carol Coleman Schlotthauer s daughter, Melissa Long, and Jim Taylor. Sympathy and Comfort of the Gospel to the family and friends of Attorney Ron Sommers, who died on January 3. Celebrate with Floyd... Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death. Better yet, let your faith feast on your doubts.

5 Pa5 Notes Received Dear UCCC Church, Thank you for your generous contribution for our Compassion Tea for the Relay for Life. (use of the Tenney Fellowship Hall). Thanks to you we were able to raise over $2000. To help find a cure for cancer; a disease that can strike any one of us at any time. With much gratitude- Doreen Koch The Lake Oswego United Church of Christ is proud to announce its 2011 Arts and Lecture series. The goal of the series is to explore the voice of the still-speaking God through music, the arts, and letters. Our series will take place at 3 PM on Sunday afternoon on the dates indicated: Feb 6- Three theologians from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian faiths discuss the prospect for peace in a world torn by religious conflict. Mar 6- Svila means Silk in Bulgarian. This well-named women s chorus will perform music from the Balkans. May 1- Kathleen Dean Moore, nationally recognized author and environmentalist, will speak on her most recent book: Wild Comfort: The Solace of Nature. Thank You! From Pastor Donnamae, Glenn, Mildred, & Natasha Thanks to each and everyone for gifts of encouragement, calls, s, cards and presents during the Christmas season. We are blessed to be among you! To Angela Schultze for many hours invested in preparing items for worship and the children s class and assisting in homebound visitation this past year, but especially during the Advent/Christmas season. Removing the Greens Thanks to those who helped remove the Advent/Christmas decorations and paraments on Sunday, January 2, after worship: Angela Schultze, Joy Krein, Yvonne Scheradella, Mark Ulrich, Natasha Davidson; & Pastor Donnamae. Did we miss anyone? Appreciation also goes to Randy Stewart for removing the wooden manger scene figures from the front lawn and the inside Christmas tree and extra branches. Click here for the website: Just a reminder- Women s Bible Study meets each Wednesday at Mill Creek Point at 10:00a.m.