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PASTOR S MESSAGE Round Hill Community Church The News Letter December 2012 Christmas wasn t always celebrated the way it is today.

In Puritan Enland the paan oriins o Christmas as a winter solstice celebration with paeants, rituals, ames, and overindulence o every sort was seen as somehow unseemly by Protestants.

As one commentator put it, the enius o Dickens s tale is in his marriae o rejoicin, celebration and ood cheer with the core Christian tenets o kindness, charity, and love and perhaps most important o

1 PASTOR S MESSAGE Round Hill Community Church The News Letter December 2012 Christmas wasn t always celebrated the way it is today. In the days ollowin the Protestant Reormation in the 16th century, December 25 was a strictly reliious holy day, soberly and piously observed by Christians. In Puritan Enland the paan oriins o Christmas as a winter solstice celebration with paeants, rituals, ames, and overindulence o every sort was seen as somehow unseemly by Protestants. This dour attitude was beinnin to chane and there was a resurence underway o the old Christmas customs and traditions when Charles Dickens wrote his classic story, A Christmas Carol, in As one commentator put it, the enius o Dickens s tale is in his marriae o rejoicin, celebration and ood cheer with the core Christian tenets o kindness, charity, and love and perhaps most important o all, oriveness. A Christmas Carol is the story o Ebenezer Scrooe and his spiritual transormation at the end o continued on pae 11 Christmas on Round Hill Live Music Silent Auction Treasure Trove k k Photos with Santa Children s Crats Train Rides k Treasure Trove Livin Greens Fabulous Food Extraordinary Gits Preview Party Friday, November 30 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Festive Drinks and Hors d oeuvres Livin Greens Fabulous Food Extraordinary Gits For tickets and inormation call k Christmas Fair Saturday, December 1 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Free admission

CHURCH SCHOOL AND YOUTH Church School As the inale or our unit on How the Bible Came to Be, the children presented a simple puppet show durin worship on November 18.

We then went back to class to discuss how the Bible has been translated rom the oriinal Hebrew and Greek to thousands o lanuaes.

The children will: prepare to celebrate the birth o Jesus; A child is not a vessel to be illed but a lamp to be lit.

2 CHURCH SCHOOL AND YOUTH Church School As the inale or our unit on How the Bible Came to Be, the children presented a simple puppet show durin worship on November 18. They had been makin paper ba puppets representin some o the major iures in the Bible. Without much opportunity to practice, they did a abulous job, and enjoyed sharin their work with the adults. We then went back to class to discuss how the Bible has been translated rom the oriinal Hebrew and Greek to thousands o lanuaes. The children enthusiastically tried their hand at writin Greek letters on sheets o papyrus, just as biblical authors miht have done. In December, we will be studyin a unit called Journey to Bethlehem. The children will: prepare to celebrate the birth o Jesus; A child is not a vessel to be illed but a lamp to be lit. Christmas Paeant The Christmas Paeant will be presented on Sunday, December 9, durin worship. Invite your riends and relatives or the best Christmas paeant ever! reconize Advent as the name o a special time in the church year; hear that as Christians, we reconize Jesus as God s it to all people; be able to locate the account o Jesus birth in Luke; hear and be able to tell the biblical story o Jesus birth; discover what it means to say that God is with us. In January, we will be learnin about baptism throuh a unit called Jesus Is Baptized. To view more pictures o events at RHCC, o to our website at roundhillcommunitychurch.or and click on Who We Are and then click on Photo Gallery. Choose an event and click on the picture to scroll. 2

CHURCH SCHOOL AND YOUTH Middle School Youth Group On November 16, six brave middle school boys athered to

As you can tell by the pictures, it was as advertised: HIGH!

step. And even thouh most elt it was scary to be so hih, they completed the course, an accomplishment each

3 CHURCH SCHOOL AND YOUTH Middle School Youth Group On November 16, six brave middle school boys athered to try the indoor Hih Ropes Challene Course at the Sono Field House in Norwalk. As you can tell by the pictures, it was as advertised: HIGH! Guided and trained by three outstandin sta persons, the boys harnessed up and eaerly tackled the six challenes. Even thouh they sometimes walked on only a sinle thin rope (with other ropes to han onto), not one missed a step. And even thouh most elt it was scary to be so hih, they completed the course, an accomplishment each can be proud o. The next meetin o the Middle School Youth Group will be Friday, December 14, or a Christmas Party at the Church. We will bein at 5:30 p.m. or dinner and end at 7:30 p.m. Brin a wrapped it (worth $5 to $7). We will have a un it exchane and play some Christmas ames. Georette Huie 3

MUSIC AT ROUND HILL Messiah Sunday Sunday, December 2 10:00 a.m. Service The choir and soloists, accompanied by strins, will present selections rom Handel s Messiah at the 10:00 a.m. service.

4 MUSIC AT ROUND HILL Messiah Sunday Sunday, December 2 10:00 a.m. Service The choir and soloists, accompanied by strins, will present selections rom Handel s Messiah at the 10:00 a.m. service. Durin the prelude, the strins will play the Messiah Overture, ollowed by tenor Patrick Hoan sinin the recitative Comort Ye and the aria Every Valley. The choir will sin the chorus And the Glory o the Lord. Durin the Communion, sopranos Jenna Hintz and Risa Renae Harman will sin the arias He Shall Feed His Flock and Come onto Him. Also durin the Communion, the strins will play the Pastorale Symphony. Music Sunday December 16 10:00 a.m. Service The principal works to be presented on Music Sunday will be the chamber orchestra arranement o Gerald Finzi s In Terra Pax and Conrad Susa s Carols and Lullabies, accompanied by harp, uitar, and marimba. Finzi s musical inspiration spran primarily rom his love o literature and the Enlish countryside the same sources that inspired Elar and Vauhan Williams. In Terra Pax was composed in 1954 and was almost the last piece that Finzi wrote, thouh its enesis can be traced to an event some thirty years previously, when one Christmas Eve he had climbed up to the church at the top o his beloved Chosen Hill, between Gloucester and Cheltenham. The sound o the midniht bells rinin out across the rosty Gloucestershire valleys evidently made a lastin impression on him, retrospectively providin the idea or In Terra Pax, as he told Vauhan Williams. The work is a settin o two verses rom Robert Brides s ine poem, Noel: Christmas Eve, 1913, subtitled Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis (Peace and oodwill to all men), which Finzi imainatively and skillully uses to rame St. Luke s account o the anels appearance to the shepherds. In Terra Pax is subtitled Christmas Scene, and Finzi explained that the Nativity becomes a vision seen by a wanderer on a dark and rosty Christmas Eve in our own amiliar landscape. This placin o the biblical story into an Enlish pastoral context is entirely consistent with Finzi s close ainity with the Enlish Romantic tradition, and his lielon dedication to the creation o his own rural paradise at his home in Ashmansworth, near Newbury. The two soloists and the chorus have clearly deined musical roles; the baritone soloist takes the voice o the poet, the soprano is cast as the anel, while the chorus narrates the amiliar biblical text. In the openin section the poet is standin on a hill contemplatin the events o the very irst Christmas, the sound o the distant church bells becomin or him the sound o an anel choir. This imae is expressed in a pealin-bells moti which, toether with the rerain rom The First Nowell, provides the musical abric o the piece. Finzi, perhaps more than most, must have been aware o the terrible irony o Brides reassurin Pax hominibus bein switly ollowed by the outbreak o World War I, yet despite this, and despite his own terminal decline, In Terra Pax is a radiant, optimistic work o reat beauty and sincerity; a miniature masterpiece that unites emotions, imaes and the amiliar events o the Christmas story into a compellin musical narrative that is at once personal yet universal. Conrad Susa bean composin ater raduatin rom Carneie Institute o Technoloy, while he was sta pianist or the Pittsbur Symphony under William Steinber. He continued his studies at the Juilliard School where he won a number o awards includin a Ford Foundation Fellowship. A proliic composer, his scores or theatre, documentaries, and operas total more than one hundred. The carols oriinatin in Catalon, Andalucia, and Puerto Rico, have distinctive Spanish rhythms and character, enhanced by the uitar, harp, and marimba accompaniment. There will also be carols or the conreation. 4

MUSIC AT ROUND HILL Trumpeter David Glukh Youth Choir Alums Christmas Eve Service 4:00 p.m. The Youth Choir alumni will be eatured alon with the McZollis Charlie and Jack McKean, John and Geore Mazzoli at the 4:00 p.

accompanied by RHCC choir member and harpist Thalia Cokkinos, Christmas Is a Feelin, and See Amid the Winter s Snow. The McZollis will sin Rise Up Shepherd.

In 1990, he emirated to Israel where he served or three years in the army orchestra.

5 MUSIC AT ROUND HILL Trumpeter David Glukh Youth Choir Alums Christmas Eve Service 4:00 p.m. The Youth Choir alumni will be eatured alon with the McZollis Charlie and Jack McKean, John and Geore Mazzoli at the 4:00 p.m. Service on Christmas Eve. Former members o the youth choir are invited to join the rehearsal at 3:00 p.m. on December 24 to prepare the anthems, which will include The Snow Lay on the Ground, accompanied by RHCC choir member and harpist Thalia Cokkinos, Christmas Is a Feelin, and See Amid the Winter s Snow. The McZollis will sin Rise Up Shepherd. Trumpeter David Glukh will present a prelude o estive music and carols beore the service. Glukh was born in Moscow in 1975 and studied at the Gnesin Music School. In 1990, he emirated to Israel where he served or three years in the army orchestra. Since his raduation rom The Juilliard School in May 2000, David Glukh has been leadin an active perormance schedule irst as a member o Dallas Brass ( ) and later as a bandleader, composer, and a soloist o David Glukh International Ensemble, Manhattan Soloists, and Wholly Brass in addition to solo enaements throuhout the world. Mr. Glukh has perormed live television and radio broadcasts on WFDU, NPR, WQXR, Cable Networks o Connecticut, Rhode Island, Texas, and Kol Ha Musica (Israeli Classical Music Radio Station). As a soloist, Mr. Glukh has appeared with the Louisville Orchestra, Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic, Jupiter Symphony, Lyric Theater Orchestra, Raanana Symphoniette, IDF Orchestra, Ulianovsk Symphony Orchestra, and Ensemble Melodia. Carols with Strins and Oboe Christmas Eve Service 9:30 p.m. The annual Christmas Eve Prelude will bein at 9:30 p.m. with a proram o Christmas music and carols eaturin oboist Mark Snyder and Violinist Maria Conti. A raduate o the Manhattan School o Music, Ms. Conti is currently the Assistant Concertmaster o the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, a position she obtained in She has served as actin Concertmaster or the Norwalk Symphony Orchestra, the Greater Brideport Symphony, the Rideield Symphony Orchestra and the Hudson Valley Philharmonic. She subs reularly on Broadway in the Lion Kin. The Times Herald Record called Ms. Conti s rendition o Havanaise by Saint-Saëns... a tour-de-orce perormance... the soloist exhibited consummate control Mark Snyder presented his New York Recital Debut to critical acclaim in March 2002 at Weill Recital Hall at Carneie Hall as a prizewinner o the Artists International Competition. Active as a reelance artist, he has toured throuhout the U.S. and Asia perormin with various orchestras as a member o the oboe section and as a soloist. He has perormed with the Glimmerlass Opera Orchestra, Key West Symphony, Delaware Symphony, New Enland Symphonic Ensemble, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, and the Westchester Chamber Orchestra, amon others. Dr. Snyder s Broadway credits include Les Miserables, Little Women, South Paciic, Tale o Two Cities, and The Phantom o the Opera.

CENTER FOR FAITH DEVELOPMENT RESCHEDULED DATE! SATURDAY, JANUARY 5 4:00 P.M. Round Hill Lectures The lecture by Elaine Paels scheduled or November 3 was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy and resultin widespread outaes that week.

6 CENTER FOR FAITH DEVELOPMENT RESCHEDULED DATE! SATURDAY, JANUARY 5 4:00 P.M. Round Hill Lectures The lecture by Elaine Paels scheduled or November 3 was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy and resultin widespread outaes that week. The lecture, reception, and book sinin have been rescheduled or Saturday, January 5 at 4:00 p.m. Dr. Paels is a noted biblical scholar and has been eatured on radio and television. She is a ascinatin writer and speaker. Please join us and invite your riends or a very special aternoon at Round Hill. Copies o her book are available or purchase in the Church Oice. They make a reat it or the scholar in your amily, especially when sined on January 5. The book is $16. For more inormation, contact the Church Oice at Meditation/Stress Reduction Thursdays, 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Church Parlor Rev. Doulas Miller leads the class every Thursday or an hour. Come when you can; brin a riend. All are welcome. 6

LES BEAUX ARTS GALLERY The dreamy landscapes o Deborah Pierce Bonnell will be displayed at Les Beaux Arts Gallery Sunday, December 2 throuh

She is a keen observer o the natural world capturin colors, orms, liht, and space.

Some o her paintins are reminiscent o the French Fauves with their wild colors and stylized lat orms; the result is a vision o ancy.

Bonnell is a raduate o Rhode Island School o Desin. She worked as a raphic desiner, textile desiner, and art teacher.

7 LES BEAUX ARTS GALLERY The dreamy landscapes o Deborah Pierce Bonnell will be displayed at Les Beaux Arts Gallery Sunday, December 2 throuh January 10, Bonnell has a everish love or nature; it is her avorite subject to paint. She is a keen observer o the natural world capturin colors, orms, liht, and space. Her style is mainly traditional, however her latest work tends to be more patterns and abstraction. Some o her paintins are reminiscent o the French Fauves with their wild colors and stylized lat orms; the result is a vision o ancy. In eneral, there is a decorative element to her style that comes rom her trainin as a textile desiner. Bonnell is a raduate o Rhode Island School o Desin. She worked as a raphic desiner, textile desiner, and art teacher. She has been workin in ine arts since the 1990s. She works in dierent media includin oil on canvas, watercolor, encaustic on panel, and pastel. She is also an avid printer. Bonnell has exhibited in many local alleries as well as in New York City and Texas. She likes to work on commission and her paintins can be seen at deborahpiercebonnell.com. Mirella Hajjar, Gallery Curator

8 BENEVOLENCE AND OUTREACH The Benevolence and Outreach Committee has just approved emerency undin to directly and immediately help amilies who need to replace essential appliances lost durin Hurricane Sandy. All o these amilies live at Washinton Villae, a public housin project in South Norwalk on Water Street, very near the Lon Island Sound. All o the units on the irst loor were water damaed either partially or ully. While the Norwalk Housin Authority owns the apartments, the residents are responsible or everythin inside their units. Here are the stories o three amilies. I know these amilies throuh bein a social worker at the elementary school where the children attend. When the storm hit, Ty, an eiht-year-old child, was sleepin and so was his mother. Her phone kept rinin, as amily members were warnin her to evacuate. By the time she woke up, when she opened the ront door, the water rushed in. Ty s mother has a ten-month-old baby and our-year-old dauhter besides Ty. She called or him to quickly et dressed, and Ty was responsible or pushin his our-yearold sister throuh the back o the housin project, throuh a ield, and to the saety o a amily member in a car several blocks away. Mom held the baby and all she could carry. Ty recalled the black water pourin in around him. He talked about tryin to et over a ence and how scared he was that everyone was oin to drown. He talked about the wind and the howlin that he heard and how it stun his ace as they escaped. They made it to saety but lost everythin that niht. The amily has no insurance. The amily has no bank account. They are currently livin with Ty s randmother, but the apartment was already crowded beore they ot there. Red Cross told them to move to the homeless shelter so they could receive assistance. The mother will not o there with a baby and two small children. She has cleaned her apartment to the best o her ability, but the smell, the water lines, and the mold are still there. FEMA has been out to see the apartment, but she hasn t received any help at this point. When I talked with Ty about what he misses the most, he talked about his Michael Jackson memorabilia, his stued animals, and his sister s Barbie dolls. Mom lost all her clothes, all her appliances... everythin. Family B has just moved back home, but they have nothin and a brand new baby. The niht that Hurricane Sandy hit, the mother was at Norwalk Hospital ivin birth to her second son. Her irst son, a six-year-old boy with autism, was spendin the niht at his randmother s. When they went back home a ew days later, they were shocked. Almost everythin in their apartment was lost. The water level was almost waist hih. The husband scrubbed and scrubbed to make the place sae or a newborn baby they are livin back there, but have no oven, no rerierator, no washer or dryer. They lost all o their urniture and clothin, as well as toys and books that beloned to their older son. They have no savins and no insurance either. Family C did not live in Washinton Villae, but in a house behind it. She is workin to support two dauhters who are in elementary school. She lost everythin in the basement, includin her urnace, hot water heater, washer and dryer. Aain, she has no savins and no insurance. These are just three examples o people whose lives chaned the niht that Sandy hit. I was able to let the Benevolence and Outreach Committee know about the amilies and they unanimously approved emerency undin to help them. On behal o these three amilies, thank you so very much. Because o the Church s enerosity, they have a chance to et started once aain. Nancy Fuzesi 8

9 BENEVOLENCE AND OUTREACH Anel Tree December 9 and 16 Church Parlor Our annual Anel Tree will be set up in the Parlor by Sunday, December 9. This is our 23rd year o helpin amilies with inancial need receive its or Christmas. The anels have names o recipients on them with a it they have chosen. When you come to Church on December 9, i you are interested in participatin, you will have an opportunity to select an anel rom the tree and take it home with you. Please brin the it back on or beore the ollowin Sunday, December 16, and place it under the tree. Please note that this means the it will need to be back within one week so it can be delivered to amilies on Monday, December 17. I you are selectin an anel durin the week, there will be a sin-up book there. Please mark the number o the anel and your name and phone number. Thank you in advance or takin part in this very worthwhile project that has brouht so much joy to children over the years. Happy Holidays. Neihbor to Neihbor Please help Greenwich amilies in need by donatin: Cereal, Canned Fruit, Pasta and Sauce, Peanut Butter and Jelly, Rice, Dried Beans, Soup, and 100% Juice Drop o items in the waon located in the RHCC Narthex. Many, many thanks!

ADVENT WORKSHOP Our annual Advent Workshop, held on the Sunday ater Thanksivin in the Community House, drew over 70 people, about hal adults and hal children, who came to make inerbread houses,

whom were not members o our church, Georette ound out that some had learned o the event because o an email sent by Jack Rabbits, some had seen the article in the local newspapers, and at least one

Many amilies ave her their email addresses so that we can let them know about uture amily events. Roland Kistler coordinated the event and the makin o the inerbread houses.

), and had a bi pot o hot chocolate simmerin. And he built a beautiul ire in the ireplace, which helped set the mood.

10 ADVENT WORKSHOP Our annual Advent Workshop, held on the Sunday ater Thanksivin in the Community House, drew over 70 people, about hal adults and hal children, who came to make inerbread houses, Advent wreaths, eat a liht supper, sin carols, and liht the Christmas tree outside the Community House. whom were not members o our church, Georette ound out that some had learned o the event because o an sent by Jack Rabbits, some had seen the article in the local newspapers, and at least one amily saw Georette s blo post on The Greenwich Patch. She even enlisted two additional children or the Christmas Paeant durin this event. Many amilies ave her their addresses so that we can let them know about uture amily events. Roland Kistler coordinated the event and the makin o the inerbread houses. He made a chicken soup with tortellini that was so tasty that people were askin him or the recipe. He prepared simple sandwiches o ham and cheese and peanut butter and jelly (perect or this crowd!), and had a bi pot o hot chocolate simmerin. And he built a beautiul ire in the ireplace, which helped set the mood. Also excitin is that two o the boys who had come to the youth roup (riends o Rector), came with their parents, and in one case, with youner siblins. They came because they enjoy bein here. Thanks to Diane, Mary Ann, and Nicole or invitin and encourain riends to attend; the best and easiest way to build a vibrant church community. Another positive is that some visitors saw olks, especially rom RHCC, that they knew rom other venues. Connections were made. And that really is the purpose o the event, to acilitate connections. We hope more olks rom RHCC will attend uture events. Roland suested that amilies sit down at dinner each niht with notes and write one thin they were rateul or that day, then put it in the inerbread house. He certainly has the spirit o the season in him. And on top o all the work he did or the Advent Workshop, Roland was, at the same time, preparin ood or Paciic House. Durin her conversations with amilies, most o Georette Huie 10

11 PASTOR S MESSAGE continued rom pae 1 his lie, suestin that it is never too late to chane, that maturity and old ae are not the same. To those o us who live in the inormation ae, it is perhaps a reminder that knowlede and wisdom are not the same. In any event, Scrooe has an epiphany; he is born aain; he is a dierent person. And in his newound enthusiasm or lie and ood will, Scrooe promises to keep the spirit o Christmas alive, and Dickens writes: Scrooe was better than his word. He did it all, and ininitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second ather. He became as ood a riend, as ood a master, and as ood a man, as the ood old city knew, or any other ood old city, town, or borouh, in the ood old world. Some people lauhed to see the alteration in him, but he let them lauh, and little heeded them; or he was wise enouh to know that nothin ever happened on this lobe, or ood, at which some people did not have their ill o lauhter in the outset; and knowin that such as these would be blind anyway, he thouht it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in rins, as have the malady in less attractive orms. His own heart lauhed and that was quite or him... and it was always said o him, that he knew how to keep Christmas, i any man alive possessed the knowlede. May that be truly said o us, and all o us! As so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One! Indeed, Amen. Doulas Miller

12 The News Letter Round Hill Community Church 395 Round Hill Road Greenwich, CT (203) Visit our website, roundhillcommunitychurch.or, to view more pictures, listen to past sermons, learn about the activities and history o RHCC, and check the monthly calendar. DECEMBER 2012 AT ROUND HILL COMMUNITY CHURCH Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1st Sunday in Advent Messiah Sunday 10:00 a.m. Worship & Church School D. Miller preachin 2nd Sunday in Advent 10:00 a.m. Christmas Paeant Anel Tree 3rd Sunday in Advent Music Sunday 10 a.m. Worship & Church School D. Miller preachin :30 p.m. Trustees Mt. 6:30 p.m. Meditation 8 p.m. Choir Rehearsal 8 p.m. RTM Dist. 10 Mt. 9-noon Christmas Paeant rehearsal :30 p.m. Meditation 8 p.m. Choir Rehearsal Cookin or St. Luke s NEWS LETTER DEADLINE 1 p.m. Round Hill Crat Studio 6:30 p.m. Meditation 8 p.m. Choir Rehearsal 5:30 p.m. Middle School Youth Group Christmas Party 9 a.m. Choir Rehearsal 4th Sunday in Advent 10 a.m. Worship & Church School D. Miller preachin 10 a.m. Worship & Church School D. Miller preachin Oice Closed Christmas Eve 4 p.m. Family Service 9:30 p.m. Candleliht Service Oice Closed New Year s Eve Oice Closed Christmas Day Oice Closed

RE- MEMBER. First Presbyterian Church g 1702 Iowa Street g Davenport, Iowa g g fpcdavenport.org

RE- MEMBER. First Presbyterian Church g 1702 Iowa Street g Davenport, Iowa g g fpcdavenport.org FIrSt PreSbyterIan ChurCh heart of the city The broadcaster September 2011 A Monthly Publication of The First Presbyterian Church Volume 40, No. 9 remember (v): 1. to retain in the memory; keep in mind