ECHOES. Looking Toward Summer

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1 ECHOES The Woodland Echoes: the monthly newsletter of Woodland Christian Church. January 2013 Looking Toward Summer As we get out our new 2013 calendars, it s not too early to begin planning for events coming up this summer: Church camp for children and youth has always been a very vital part of the ministry of the Christian Church in Kentucky and Woodland Christian Church. Below is a link of the dates for our Region s 2013 camps. Reminder: Woodland pays ½ of the registration fee for any youth active in our congregation! content/uploads/2012/11/camp-dates pdf Disciples are Orlando bound! Every other year our denomination gathers for it s General Assembly, bringing Disciples together from around the country and around the world in worship, fellowship, study and business. This year s General Assembly is July Housing goes quickly so if you are thinking about going, act sooner than later. Spiritual, Meditative, Winter Retreat January 25 27, 2013 Once again we will have a special time at Cathedral Domain near Ravenna and Irvine in Lee County. It is a wonderful time for sharing fellowship and quiet. This is a chance to get away for a retreat and change of routine. We start with dinner on Friday night and conclude with Sunday morning worship. All are welcome to come to join us. Blanket Sunday We will be conducting a special offering on Sunday, Jan. 13 & 20 in order to raise money to be given to the Church World Service Fund for blankets. Disciples for the Dream January 20, 6 p.m. Central Christian Church is hosting the 23 rd community worship service in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. featuring the MLK Community Choir and speaker Rev. LaMarco Cable with Bread for the World. Cable earned a B.A. in religion from Transylvania U., a M.Div. from LTS and recently preached at Woodland.

2 WORSHIP NOTES January 6 Epiphany of the Lord Isaiah 60: 1-6 Matthew 2: 1-12 We welcome the wise men. January 13 Baptism of the Lord Luke 3: 15-17, We celebrate baptism. January 20 2 nd Sunday after the Epiphany 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11 John 2: 1-11 Gifts revealed! January 27 3 rd Sunday after the Epiphany 1 Corinthians 12: Luke 4: Ministry defined. Poinsettias for the Sanctuary Thank you to everyone who allowed their Poinsettia s to decorate our Sanctuary during the Holiday Season. Jackie Diachun A Note from Dalene On the first Sunday of this New Year, the choir led us in the singing of one of the newer hymns in our hymnal, I Am the Light of the World! It has been one of my favorite hymns from the first time that I read/sang it. Yes, that is partly because of Jim Strathdee s catchy tune. But even more, I have found the words to be layered with meaning in this season following Christmas. The hymn is based on the below poem by Howard Thurman. Thurman was an African American Baptist minister, advocate of nonviolence and integration and author of writings that inspired many civil rights leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I invite us all to mediate on The Work of Christmas. May this be included in our prayers for ourselves and our church in this coming new year. Happy New Year to all, Dalene The Work of Christmas By Howard Thurman When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and the princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers, To make music in the heart. 2

3 3 HUGS Donations Penny Wells and Jackie Diachun delivered the HUGS for men to HOPE Center. There were 2 hat and scarf sets, 34 hats, 5 long john pants, 3 undershirts, and 1underwear, 76 pairs of socks and 17 gloves. For Ladies which will go to the HOPE Center for Women there were 43 pairs of socks, 2 thermal tops and 2 thermal pants, 24 gloves, 12 underpants, 1 scarf and 1 hat. For children there were 2 pairs of socks for boys, 2 boys underpants, 4 pair of novelty socks and 4 pair of girls' socks. These will go with our contributions for the Foster Children. An estimated value of all our gifts is $450. Jackie Diachun Joanna Manring 01/02 Beth Siessel 1/03 Gerry Hann 1/05 Michelle Armstrong 1/06 Janice Brock 1/07 Kirk Chiles 1/08 Garrett Blake 1/08 Paul Ladd 1/13 Rick Buchanan 1/15 Susan Hatch 01/16 Patrick Armstrong 1/20 Annaliese Taylor 01/20 Dan Barnes 1/22 Chris Blake 1/24 Bernice Coleman 1/24 Sara Brownrobie 1/26 Evelyn Ladd 1/29 Hattie Reeves 1/31 Youth Group Jan 13 Youth Group & lunch Jan 20 MLK Service, No regular youth group Jan 27 Joint Youth Group at Twin Pines Woodland, you are a generous community! Above is a picture of the Christmas gifts delivered to foster children.

4 Who's in the Pews! Barbara Blodgett In December, Barbara Blodgett joined Woodland. She moved here in the fall to become a professor of pastoral leadership at Lexington Theological Seminary. Previously, she lived in Cleveland and was an active member of St. Paul s Community UCC. She worked on the staff of the national headquarters of the United Church of Christ resourcing committees on ministry. Before coming to Woodland, Barbara has always been involved as a member of a UCC congregation. She was born and grew up in Oberlin, Ohio with two sisters. Then she was a student at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. She earned a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School. She was ordained at her home church and served two years as Associate Pastor in Amherst, Massachusetts. She went back to Yale to work on her PhD in Religious Studies (Ethics) which was interrupted by a two year stint as visiting Religion professor at Oberlin College. After completing her Doctorate, she became Director of Supervised Ministry at Yale from 1998 to She then went to work for the UCC national headquarters. With the changes that have been made at LTS, Barbara says she is, honored to be a part of this experiment. Barbara came to Woodland because she heard it might be a fit and she liked what she found. She wanted a church with diversity of ages and backgrounds in faith, where (continued next column) 4 (continued) questions were encouraged with an openness to thinking in new ways. She likes that the congregation is active and many take on responsibilities each week. She has come from a family and tradition of singing together so she is pleased that we include a lot of music and group singing in our service. Barbara is already a part of the choir. Hiking, biking and kayaking are the outdoor things she does and enjoys. She is getting to know some of what is available in the area but is looking forward to doing more. Creative sewing projects are also what she enjoys doing when the mood strikes. She plays the flute. As Barbara gets more acquainted with us and we share gifts with each other it looks to be a good thing. We welcome Barbara to our church family. Jackie Diachun

5 Welcoming Committee: With the smell of a new calendar with its crisp pages, we are all starting to schedule events for a New Year. In addition to scheduled appointments, meetings and social events, the Welcoming committee is planning some events as well. Our next Lunch with Dalene is scheduled for Sunday, 01/20/2013. Please help spread the word to your friends and family. This informal luncheon is a time where new members and regular visitors get together to talk about Woodland Christian Church and the Disciples of Christ denomination. 5 The Welcoming Committee and the Trustees joined efforts to get our new concrete bike pad poured. With the demolition and rebuild of the front porch and steps, we had the perfect opportunity to have some extra concrete added to get our pad poured. We will be bolting our bike rake to the pad mid to late January. This is another successful step in our reaching out to the biking community. Woodland continues to be a welcoming church to ALL whether you ride in on 2 wheels or 4. -Jimmy Owens A Note from the Trustees: Hello again from your Woodland Trustees! Here is the latest on what s going on around our facilities: Front porch project All major work surrounding the front porch project is done! There is a bit of sealing and finishing work to do, but the porch and front steps are functional and safe once again. Thanks to Craig Locke and all others involved in planning and coordinating the project, and thanks to E.C. Matthews Company for their hard work. 3 rd floor electrical While Dixon was on site completing planned electrical repairs they discovered a minor wiring issue that presented a safety risk. As a result, 15 lights have been replaced on the 3 rd floor, and the wiring has been fixed. Thanks to Dixon Electric for keeping us safe. 2 nd floor restrooms The 2 nd floor restrooms were closed briefly for tile replacement. The job is now done! Thanks to Michael Wells for coordinating, and to Masters in Renovation for their hard work. Parking plan A proposal has been approved by the board to implement a plan that will generate revenue for the use of Woodland s parking lots by neighborhood residents and businesses. More details to come. Upcoming work days- Trustees work days have been planned for the following dates: January 19 th, February 16 th, and March 16 th. Workdays are from 10AM-2PM. We encourage anyone interested in helping out to do so. We will find a job for you! As always, if you see anything of concern around the building, please bring it to our attention. Kyle Spring

6 WCC Christmas Luncheon At the WCC Christmas Luncheon there was lots of food. 6 For Christmas, WCC got a nice new front porch and. fun fellowship! some new steps as well!