Middlebury Congregational Church United Church of Christ The Green 1242 Whittemore Rd. Middlebury CT

Transcription

1 DECEMBER 2017 Middlebury Congregational Church United Church of Christ The Green 1242 Whittemore Rd. Middlebury CT

2 FROM THE PASTOR Advent is a season of expectant waiting and preparation for Christ s coming into the world. Advent is also the beginning of the Christian year and the start of a new cycle in the lectionary. (We just finished up year A in the lectionary, which has a lot of readings from the gospel according to Matthew, and we are now starting year B, which draws a lot from the gospel according to Mark.) So, given that, it is very fitting that December 3 rd, the first Sunday in Advent, will be my first Sunday with you as your minister. One of the major themes of Advent is hope, and I certainly have a lot of hope as I begin my time as your pastor. My expectations have already been exceeded in terms of your welcome, hospitality, and support. I am excited to get to know you all better and become integrated into your wonderful community. I am so looking forward to all that we can and will do together. I most certainly am starting out Advent full of hope for our future. However, I know that sometimes hope can be hard to find. Our world is not perfect, and it can be hard to find hope when we see or experience tragedy, hardship, violence, death, hunger, heartbreak, uncertainty, or loss. But, even with all the sins and problems in the world, we have reason to have hope. During Advent, we are reminded of the foundation for all Christian hope: our God loves us enough to have come and dwelt among us in Jesus Christ, our Immanuel. God sent the Son into this world, with its many flaws, in order to save it. That truth about our faithful and loving God certainly brings me hope. So, during this Advent season of waiting, preparation, and hope, I commend to you these words from 16 th century Protestant reformer John Calvin: We should ask God to increase our hope when it is small, awaken it when it is dormant, confirm it when it is wavering, strengthen it when it is weak, and raise it up when it is overthrown. May your Advent be filled with hope, the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. Peace, Katrina Manzi Minister The Sunday School Scoop During November, the children learned the story of David and Goliath and The Wise King (Solomon), taught by Kris Zold and myself. Many thanks to our cherub choir, who learned a wonderful song, Only and Boy Named David, to go along with our David and Goliath unit. They also joined in song in our Service of Thanksgiving. Thank you, Janine and Norma, for leading our children in music! The season of Advent is upon us! Once again, we have many Christmas activities for the children at MCC. This year we are spreading out our Advent Workshop so that we have time to include more of the Bible story into the activities. On December 3 rd and 10 th, the children will learn the Christmas story through Art and Cooking lessons. On December 17 th, we will have our annual Christmas Pageant. This is always a magical worship service. If you d like to participate in the pageant, please let me know. There are parts for all ages. Our rehearsal will be Saturday, December 16 th from 10am-12pm. I am very excited to share our reenactment of the Greatest Story Ever Told with Donna, Dave, and Katrina this year. Christmas Blessings, Valerie Beard Dec 3 Dec 10 Dec 17 Dec 24 Dec 31 Sunday School Schedule PreK, K, 1 st, & 2 nd A Baby is Born Art A Baby is Born Cooking Christmas Pageant All in Worship All in Worship 3 rd, 4 th, 5 th, & 6 th A Baby is Born Cooking A Baby is Born Art

3 Youth News! Pilgrim Fellowship has been going strong this past month. We had meetings with the junior and senior groups where we talked about "Who am I" in this world and in the community. We also talked about thankfulness and what it means to be truly thankful. Pilgrim Fellowship was also busy helping Missions with some volunteer work. We helped out rake leaves for some local church members, we made sandwiches and bag lunches for GWIM, and we also went to GWIM helped serve hot lunches. On Saturday, December 16 th the youth will help with the Pancake Breakfast with Santa which is being sponsored by the Mission Board. Junior Pilgrim Fellowship meets the 1st and 3rd Sunday of every month from 4:00-5:30. Senior Pilgrim Fellowship meets the 2nd and 4th Sunday from4:00-5:30. All youth are welcome to attend. Yours in Christ, Kristine Zold CHRISTMAS PAGEANT Be sure to join us in worship for our annual Christmas pageant which will be held on Sunday, December 17 th (snow date: Dec. 24 th ). This will be a multigenerational event as we re-enact The Greatest Story Ever Told through words and music. There is a part for everyone of all ages, so don t forget to sign up in the social hall. We will have a practice/run through on Saturday, December 16 th from 10:00 am -12:00 pm for anyone involved. Again this year Ed Ryan has agreed to host an instructional workshop and provide us with the spruce, fir, pine and juniper cuttings we will need to build our own evergreen wreaths for the holiday season. Even if you ve never tried your hand at crafting your own wreath, the fellowship is outstanding and the instruction second to none! So, on Sunday, Dec. 3 rd please join us. Bring a wreath frame, a pair of gloves, and a willing heart. We will meet in the social room after coffee hour from 12-2:00. Please Ellen at spirit2000@aol.com to make your reservation. There will be a $5 donation to cover costs. SPECIAL UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER Dec. 2 Town Tree Lighting on the 4:00 pm followed by Hot Cocoa with Santa at MCC. Dec. 3 First Sunday in Advent the children will decorate the Star Tree & Christmas Basket Collection begins. Wreath Making from 12:00 2:00pm Dec. 16 Pancake MCC with Santa from 8:00-10:00 Pageant Practice from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. Dec. 17 Christmas Pageant during Service. (snow date Dec. 24) Dec. 17 Christmas Caroling - meet at the 4:00pm. Dec. 24 Regular Sunday 10:00am Family 5:00pm Candlelight 11:00pm

4 The Deacons' Bench When church musicians talk among themselves, a common question is, Do you have a singing congregation? By that they mean, does the typical person in the pews actively participate in the hymns or stand and listen to the choir and organ? I treasure the sound of a congregation raising its collective voice in praise and feel so blessed to be serving a church that does just that. Throughout the month of November, while celebrating All Saints Sunday, greeting our Ministerial Candidate, and thanking your Interim Minister, the church has been filled with voices raised in song. And on the final Sunday of November, with a lay-led Service and a Hymn-Sing, you shared some of the hymns you most treasure. What a blessing! I am so looking forward to singing the great music of Advent and Christmas with you. Dave and I will see on Sunday! "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." ~Jeremiah 29:11 This month I was asked to publish the testimony that was offered to Dave at the close of his farewell service. I offered it as a prayer of thanksgiving, a deep and abiding appreciation for our sacred relationship with him, and for blessings as the direction of our relationship with one another changes. We will always be grateful for Dave s ministry here that prepared us for the next path of our faith journeys. Together we fortified our a strong foundation and now we can look ahead with excited anticipation as time turns the page. Farewell to Dave: It is, to say the least, difficult to find the words to aptly convey the feelings of those who are in this sanctuary, those who could not be here, and those who are only here in Spirit. I hope as you stand before us today, you feel the love in this sacred place. It is yours to cherish as the agent of God s grace that it is. Take a moment--it has the power to sustain you, the power to sustain all of us. The last five years have been a series of those moments. Moments when we have connected with one another to bear witness to God s love. Shortly after you arrived in Middlebury you began to work your way into our hearts. At the Strawberry Festival, the Autumn Dinner and our first Thanksgiving Harvest service. You were there. The Advent season and the joyous celebration of Christmas, you were there. During the harshest of winters, the jambalaya dinners and zydeco music, you were there. When the season of Lent became the joy of Easter morning you were there. And for all the seasons, the challenges and the changes that followed, you were there

5 The Deacons Bench continued... And every day for the last five years, you have been there-walking along side us to help us find our way. Steadily, quietly, supporting and encouraging us back to where we stand today-ready to begin a new chapter, confident in our new direction. You have been a joy to us, Dave. One has to give love to get love and as you gave we received. You showed us how to be the fullest expressions of ourselves and you were there. You were there to welcome our new members, to baptize our children, to confirm our young people, to bless our marriages and to bury our loved ones. You were there. Those were our moments together with the Holy Spirit, but this one does not belong to us alone. This is God s moment. God is calling us to continue our work in new ways. God is calling you with the freedom to share your gifts in a new way or a new place. We are profoundly changed because of your ministry here and your influence on our faith and our faithfulness will not leave us at your departure. It is with deep love and appreciation that I offer you this gift on behalf of the Middlebury Congregational Church. May God bless you always and forevermore. As Advent approaches let us prepare our hearts to celebrate the birth of the Messiah. We ask that God richly bless our new direction, our new ministry with the Reverend Katrina Manzi, and the gift of our relationship with one another. Wishing you all the joys of the Christmas season on behalf of the Middlebury Congregational Church Board of Deacons, Ellen Aronheim From the Mission Board Merry Christmas! To my mind, Advent was a time of progress. The world waited for the birth of Jesus. Progress doesn't come without upheaval and a little bit of chaos. Joseph, Mary, and Jesus's first years were certainly chaotic. As we, as a congregation, progress this month with our new music ministers and pastor, the Mission Board would like to welcome Dave, and Donna Obarowski, and Pastor Katrina Manzi. We especially look forward to working with Pastor Katrina. Pastor Dave, we love you. You will be sorely missed. Good luck in your future endeavors. Last month and this month have been busy times for the Mission Board. For November, we made an angel gift to help someone with rent. At this time, the Thanksgiving Baskets haven't been presented. If they are short, we will supplement them. For Fall Clean up, we helped to rake 2 yards. Deb Barlow, Deb Balletto, Kris Zold, her 4 children and myself had a nice day to help Ellen Aronheim and Tony Dudek with their yards. Thank you to all who helped make sandwiches and put together lunches on November 9th. The bags were decorated by Cynthia Flisher's 4th grade class. They were beautiful. The patrons of GWIM really appreciated the lunches. Megan Romaniello, Kris Zold and I handed out half of them on Friday and a volunteer from GWIM handed out the other half on Saturday. It was pretty cold the day we handed out sandwiches. For December and January, we will be collecting mittens, gloves, hats, coats, blankets and socks. The socks do not have to match! The mitten line is back! The Star Tree will be up in the sanctuary soon. You may choose as many names as you wish. Many of these children will only receive the gifts we give this season. Please donate with a generous heart. Middlebury will light the Christmas Tree on the green on Dec. 2. Santa will be there and the mission board is providing the hot chocolate. Please come and enjoy a time of fellowship

6 From the Mission Board continued... The board will be hosting a Pancake Breakfast with Santa on Saturday December 16th from 8-10AM. Please join us prior to Pageant practice. Santa will read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and pose for pictures. The cost will be $5/ person. Just a reminder, with all the hustle, bustle and activity of the season, remember to take a few minutes for yourself. Breathe and appreciate the quiet wonder of the manger. Yours, in Christ Brenda Romaniello Mission Board Chair STAR TREE 2017 The star tree will be up in the sanctuary on Dec. 3 rd and is full of the bright hopes of many children. Through our Covenant to Care program, we have agreed to provide gifts to 80 children at Christmas in the Wellmore program in Waterbury. Ages for these children range from newborns to teenagers, but they all have one thing in common: this will probably be the only gift these children receive this Christmas. Please pick a star, purchase the requested gift(s) (at a cost of no more than $50 per gift), and place the wrapped gift(s) with the star attached to the outside under the tree in the sanctuary (or the office) before December 18 th at 10:00 am. You are more than welcome to choose more than one star! Stars are grouped by color by family members and social worker. MITTEN LINE We are sponsoring 3 local families for Christmas, providing Christmas Dinner and Gifts. The families whose lives we are brightening are: #1 - Family of 3: Mom, Dad, Adult Daughter #2 - Family of 2: Senior Husband & Wife #3 - Family of 5: Mom, Dad, Girl-11, Boy-5, Girl-3 You will find sign-up sheets on the bulletin board outside the kitchen or you may call the office to find out what is left on the list. Have you seen the clothes line in the Social Hall? This is there for you to hang, mittens, gloves, hats, scarves, and earmuffs! You may also bring in new or gently used outerwear. Your donations will be given to people in need to help them stay warm this winter. So, if you d like to hang a useful ornament on the line, please do!

7 Days Gone By Did you know that although most people tend to associate Handel's Messiah with Christmas, it was originally meant by its composer George Frideric Handel (Georg Friedrich Händel in his native Germany) and its librettist Charles Jennens to be a thought-provoking work on Jesus as the Messiah for Lent and Easter. It premiered on April 13, 1742 in the Great Music Hall in Dublin with an audience of about 700 people (the ladies were asked not to wear their hoops and the men to leave their swords at the door or at home in order to squeeze in as many people as possible), and received very positive reviews from the press. It was a benefit concert for prisoners' debt relief, the Mercer's Hospital, and the Charitable Infirmary. Handel arranged a second performance on June 3rd for his own financial benefit. He was deeply in debt at this point in his life. Eventually, he become very rich from both his music and shrewd investments in the London stock market, but he always donated generously to the sick, retired musicians and especially orphans. Annual charity performances of Messiah began in London's Foundling Hospital (Handel's favorite charity) in 1750 and continued after his death in Over time why has Messiah become so popular at Christmas time? Only the first part of Messiah is directly related to Christmas. It is about the prophesies and the birth of Christ. The second part is about the passion and ends with the "Hallelujah" chorus. The third part is about the resurrection of the dead and Christ's glorification in heaven. One theory is that there's plenty of great music for orchestras to play around Easter - not too much for Christmas. And think about it. Christmas isn't just to celebrate Jesus' birth. It's a time to contemplate the coming of the Messiah and what that means to us all, now and in the future. The "Hallelujah" chorus is just as appropriate to sing now during Advent and the Christmas season as it is to sing during Lent or on Easter Day. There are some small mentions of Handel's Messiah in our church's reports. On December 11, 1955 the Senior Choir joined the massed Naugatuck choirs at the Naugatuck Congregational Church in the annual presentation of The Messiah. The event "won high praise" for its organizer and director, Jesse Davis, who was also our choir director at the time. The choir also participated in (They probably took part in this event in other years that went unmentioned. Mr. Davis was from Naugatuck and was very active in church music events there, including the Music Festival in the spring in which our Junior Choir participated during the 50's and 60's.) The Messiah was not mentioned again until 1981, when Jodie Gelbogis reported that during her four months so far as Music Director, the Senior Choir "successfully sang excerpts from Handel's Messiah". The next year she said that the Senior Choir's Easter program of the Messiah was "excellent and enjoyed by all". We now have to fast forward over twenty years again, this time to 2005 when Sounds of Joy sang a rousing "Hallelujah" chorus as the finale of their spring concert. I don't know what the audience thought, but, as a member of Sounds of Joy, it was magical. We were truly inspired. We sang it again at both of the Christmas Eve services that year. In 2007, when Amelia Nagoski was our Music Director, the Adult Choir sang it at Easter. Have you noticed that some people call Handel's most famous oratorio Messiah and others call it The Messiah? Handel himself called it Messiah, but even so, The Messiah is widely accepted and commonly used. So I guess you can take your pick. It is so well known that no one will mistake it for something else. On the other hand - Jodie Gelbogis reported that in 1982 the choir presented an excellent Christmas program of "The Gloria" and I wonder which one she meant as there are a number of quite famous ones. In early December of 1999, Paul Halley's Chorus came and performed in our sanctuary and Vivaldi's Gloria in D Major was a major part of the program. Vivaldi wrote more than one Gloria, but this one is so popular, it is simply known as the Vivaldi "Gloria". Maybe that's the one she meant. Hey, guess what! The Naugatuck Congregational Church is having a Messiah Sing on December 16th. Jeanine has the information about it in the church office. Alberta Weller, Church Historian

8 The four year old class had a wonderful trip to the Institute for American Indian Studies last month. For many it was their first ride on a school bus! Very exciting! They offered us many handson, authentically made articles to explore. All classes celebrated with a Thanksgiving Feast in school. Our parents are so generous...we had plenty of delicious and healthy foods! The children always look adorable in their homemade Pilgrim hats and Native American headbands. The three year olds are looking forward to a good old fashioned sing-a-long with their families before the holiday break. The four year olds will put on a holiday show with seasonal songs for their families on the stage! Registration for the school year will soon be under way. If you have a neighbor, friend or family member who are looking for a preschool for their child, please invite them to call the school and allow us to show them our wonderful. homey classrooms. May you all have a relaxing and blessed Christmas! The Deadline for January Church Life: December 18 9:00 a.m. Join the MCC Book Group January 24 th at 7:00 pm In the Parlor January s Book: PRESCHOOL ON THE GREEN Church Members Priority REGISTRATION It s time for preschool registration of the school year. The deadline for priority registration for church members is December 31, If any church members are planning to enroll their child in the preschool program, please call the Preschool ( ) for an application. Children who will be three years of age by December 31, 2018 are eligible. Open registration begins January 3, 2016 and church members must register before that date to retain their priority

9 CHRISTMAS FLOWERS 2017 Those wishing to contribute toward Christmas flowers are asked to fill in the form below and place it in the offering plate or send it to the church office, 1242 Whittemore Rd. We must know by Monday, Dec. 18 th, if you wish to purchase flowers. I would like to give $ toward Christmas flowers. I would like to pick up my plant after the Christmas services. I would like the church to distribute my flowers for me. Please print names as you wish them to appear in the bulletin: I would like to give flowers in memory of: Given by:

10 DECEMBER 2017 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY 1 2 7:00 Girl Scouts 4:00 Tree Lighting - Cocoa & Santa 8:30 Adult Choir 10:00 Worship 11:00 Cherub Choir 11:15 Diaconate 12-1:00 Wreath Making 8:30 Adult Choir 10:00 Worship 11:00 Cherub Choir :30 Adult Choir 10:00 Worship CHRISTMAS PAGEANT 4:00 Caroling 10:00 Worship 4:00 Adult Choir 5:00 Worship 10:00 Adult Choir 11:00 Worship 8:30 Adult Choir 10:00 Worship 11:00 Cherub Choir :00 Church Life Articles Due :00 AA 5:30 Mission Brd. 6:30 Church Council 7:00 Yoga OFFICE CLOSED25 Merry Christmas 12:00 AA 7:00 Trustees 7:00 Yoga 12:00 AA 7:00 Yoga 19 OFFICE CLOSED 26 12:00 AA 7:00 Yoga 5:30 Prayer Group 7:00 AA 5:30 Prayer Group 7:00 AA 5:30 Prayer Group 7:00 AA 5:30 Prayer Group 7:00 AA :00 Boy Scouts & Comm. Mtg :00 Boy Scouts & Boards of Review 21 7:00 Boy Scouts Court of Honor 7:00 Boy Scouts 28 7:00 Girl Scouts :00 Pancake Breakfast with Santa 10-12:00 Pageant Practice