THE RUNNER. Advent Calendar. The First United Presbyterian Church of Crafton Heights. Isaiah 52:7

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1 THE RUNNER Isaiah 52:7 David B. Carver, Pastor 50 Stratmore St Pittsburgh, PA The First United Presbyterian Church of Crafton Heights Well, the big day is almost here. The calendar has been marching, inexorably, towards this month. For some of us, it can t get here soon enough. Before too long, Lord willing, we ll know who is in charge around here. I m not talking about the Presidential election. I m talking about the beginning of Advent. On Sunday, November 27, the church year begins. As we dress ourselves in purple and light the candles, we proclaim with no small shout of triumph that the God we love and serve is a God who comes to his people. He comes, not because we voted, or not because we deserved it, or not because he s angry he comes because he said he would. But how will he come? One writer has captured it thusly: Advent Calendar He will come like last leaf's fall. One night when the November wind has flayed the trees to bone, and earth wakes choking on the mould, the soft shroud's folding. He will come like frost. One morning when the shrinking earth opens on mist, to find itself arrested in the net of alien, sword-set beauty. In This Issue: Pastor s Letter 1 Calendar 2 Meetings 3 Preschool 4 Deacons 5 Open Door 6 Prayers 7 He will come like dark. One evening when the bursting red December sun draws up the sheet and penny-masks its eye to yield the star-snowed fields of sky. He will come, will come, will come like crying in the night, like blood, like breaking, as the earth writhes to toss him free. He will come like child. Rowan Williams (The Poems of Rowan Williams, Perpetua Press 2002) May the God who comes come to you in the hidden, dark, cold places of your life. May you know the power of his coming this Advent and beyond! And may your worship of this coming Christ empower you to dive more deeply into his care for you and his call upon you. I ll look forward to seeing you in worship!

2 The Runner November 2016 Page 2 November Calendar

3 The Runner November 2016 Page 3 Meetings & News Session November 14th 7:00 Carver Home Deacons November 14th 7:00 Mikula Home Steering Committee November 3rd 6:30 pm Preschool Board November 9th 7:30 pm Stewardship Committee November 5th 10:00 am Decorating Time for Advent This is the me of year for celebra on! One way we will prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ by decora ng the church. There are wreaths and bows to be hung, pine branches and candles to be placed on the window sills, trees to decorate and lights to hang. Please stay to lend a hand on Sunday November 20 a er worship. We need about 4 men to put the tree together, 6-8 others to decorate the sanctuary. There will be special children s ac vi es that day to keep the kids busy while the parents decorate! If you have ques ons, please speak with Cheri Mack. Calling all singers! While CHUP does not have a choir that leads worship on a regular basis, we are once more forming our seasonal Christmas Choir. We are looking for individuals who are interested in singing in worship on Sunday December 18 (11 am) and Saturday, December 24 (7 pm). Rehearsals are tenta vely scheduled for Wednesday, November 30, Tuesday December 6, and Wednesday December 14. All rehearsals begin at 7 pm. Even if you've never been in a choir before, come out and give it a try. For more informa on, please speak with Lucas Bowman lucasbowman13@gmail.com, Adam Simcox adamjsimcox@gmail.com, or Pastor Dave.

4 The Runner November 2016 Page 4 Preschool News October was all about apples and pumpkins. We tasted apple butter, applesauce, apple muffins, and apple cereal. We explored graphing apples and making apple prints. Then we tasted pumpkin foods, breads, jams, seeds and many other treats. In November we ll taste corn bread, popcorn, corn chips and try fun corn activities! We are looking for volunteers who can help us with some behind the scenes needs. We need helpers who can put away activities, cut and copy activities and help us keep our areas organized. If you can help for an hour or so, M, T, or W around 11:30 am, speak with Cheri Mack for more details. We will be celebrating the preschool ministry, staff and families during the worship service on November 6 th. We will talk about the importance of preschool in this neighborhood and have a photo presentation of the children at school. Hoagie orders ware due November 16 th. Pick up on Tuesday Nov 22. Order 12 Italian or Turkey for an easy dinner or great lunch. Cost is $6.

5 The Runner November 2016 Page 5 From the Deacons Desk November 2016 Mission Opportunities The Food Cupboard The Deacons are considering ideas to make our Food Cupboard more efficient to serve our neighbors. Look for details in the upcoming Bulletins. The Table Joe Knouff continues to lead a team from CHUP in preparing and serving a meal for the Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community outreach program one Tuesday a month. The preparation begins around 4:00 pm. The meal is served promptly at 5:30 pm. And cleanup is usually done by 6:30 pm. If you have 2-3 hours a month that you are looking to squeeze a little mission work into, and want to spend time with some awesome people, please contact Joe ( ). Texas Mission Trip The tentative dates for the Texas Mission trip for 2017 has been suggested for the week of February These dates will be officially set after details are discussed with the upcoming Mission Team. Anyone interested in participating is encouraged to contact Pastor Dave. Card Center Our Card Center is behind the sanctuary. There is also a church directory, a Runner with a list of birthdays, pens and pencils, etc. for use before or after worship. You can leave the addressed card for our church secretary to mail on Monday. No stamp needed. Sending Aid to Hurricane Matthew s Victims Because of the devastation that was caused the by hurricane Matthew, the Deacons were moved to make a donation of $1000 on behalf of the members of CHUP to the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. PDA will be providing essential food, water and supplies for impacted communities in the U.S., Haiti, the Bahamas and Cuba. Additional contributions can be made pma.pcusa.org or checks can be mailed to: Presbyterian Church (USA) P.O. Box Pittsburgh, PA

6 The Runner November 2016 Page 6 The Open Door Thank you to everyone who participated in The Open Door's Hero Celebration Banquet. Your generosity is very much appreciated and will go a long way in helping The Open Door continue to offer quality programs for the youth of our community. THANKS! Community Thanksgiving Join us at the Open Door on Friday, November 18 at 6:00 pm for a Community Thanksgiving Celebration! All families are invited for food and activities just let Brad know you are coming! There will be no regular Friday Night Rec that evening. Hope to see you there! Dates to Know Nov 14 6 pm Family Fun Night Nov 18 6 pm Community Thanksgiving Nov 20 7 pm Youth Group Thanksgiving Langley Elementary School is in its second year of Blessings in a Backpack. With the help of BNY Mellon, Amazon, Giant Eagle, and several area churches, Langley provides a food-filled backpack each weekend to dozens of students who would normally go hungry. Would you consider donating items to help this cause? Langley accepts donations from September June. Please contact Jean Harkins or Bonnie Schrenker for more information, or visit their website: List of foods they accept: soft granola bars, fruit & grain bars, pop-tarts, healthy cereals or oatmeal (single serving), chicken noodle soup, canned pasta, mac & cheese (single serving), ramen noodles, lunch-to-go kits, slim jims, canned fruit, raisins, juice snacks, crackers with cheese, pudding packs, applesauce packs, apples, oranges, juice boxes, peanut butter, hot chocolate.

7 The Runner November 2016 Page 7 Prayers, Concerns and Joys Prayer Concerns Members: Bill Richardson, Erika Locke Boden, Season Ciechanowski, Ida Mae Parris, Tina Dame, Paul Imhoff, Ed Kososki, Dolly Bock, Harry Knight, Linnea Kunicky, Maryanne Richardson, Marg Tranter, Gwen Lightell Miller, Cheryl Reed, Joey Szumigalski & family, Justin & Eric Barth, the homebound and those in caring facilities. Friends & Relatives: Linda Garofolo, Linda Richardson, Sims family, Lisa & Nicholas Daugherty, Jerry Eyler Liuhomen, Mark Adler, Kate Kuhn, Rachel Mehl, Lorraine Barth, Duane Eagan, Virginia & Harold Trunick, Eadie Children, Gary Rivit, Betty Hartlep, Krieger family, Mark Mattern, Elijah Todd, Louise Wilkie, Harold Garrison. Need prayer? Send an to the prayer chain: prayer@chup.org. Your prayer request will go out to all those who are on the list. If you would like to be on a list to receive prayer s, call the church office at , or Treva at chup@chup.org. November Birthdays 1 st Jason Padula Thoko Mbewe 2 nd Tyler Piper 3 rd Ginny Jones Margaret Tranter 7 th Gert Clokey 9 th Tim Salinetro 10 th Fran Andrews 12 th Beverly Johnson 20 th Ed Kososki 21 st Brian Mack 23 rd Lucia Carver Daniels 24 th Dietrich Zeisloft 26 th Mimi Zickefoose 27 th Maya Fisher 28 th Cheryl Shaw Rose Hemke 29 th Jamie Klein Save the Dates! Connector s Meeting Fellowship Hall January 8, 2017 After Worship All Church Retreat Crestfield Camp and Conference Center October 20-22, 2017 Happy Thanksgiving! Articles for the December Runner are due on or before Sunday, 11/20/2016.

8 First United Presbyterian Church of Crafton Heights 50 Stratmore Street Pittsburgh, PA NON-PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID PITTSBURGH, PA PERMIT NO. 862 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Worship Schedule Faith Builders for all ages 9:30 am Worship 11:00 am Advent Begins November 27 November 2016 The Runner A Monthly Newsletter Published by The First United Presbyterian Church of Crafton Heights 50 Stratmore Street Pittsburgh, PA Articles for the December Runner Are due on or before Sunday, November 20