Chanticleer. Volume 90, Issue 5

Transcription

1 Chanticleer Volume 90, Issue 5 Dear Friends, I recently came across an article saying that churches do not need volunteers. With an opening like that, I had to read it. What the author said was that volunteering is the wrong word to use for what people do at church. They made the point that it was like saying a parent watching their child is babysitting. You do not babysit when it is your own child. You parent the child. Similarly, many of our church members go into our community (and wider) and volunteer. They go and help out and then return home: maybe at the Performing Arts Center, or the hospital gift shop, or any number of places. But we do not volunteer at church, for the same reason we do not volunteer at home. Church is our place. Coming to church is like coming home. This is the place we belong. A much better word for all the work that is done at church, from cooking and serving food to washing dishes, from changing paraments to cleaning out the handicap entrance, from weeding the garden to edging the sidewalk, is ministry. The Greek word diakonos, sometimes translated as minister is used for lots of different activities in the Bible. It can mean serving, like serving someone lunch or like following Jesus commandments. It can mean taking care of, like caring for a sick relative or being a good steward of someone else s things (like God s creation). It is the root of our word Deacon. It is the reason our Chanticleer and weekly bulletin list the ministers of the church as all the people. See you at church, whatever your ministry here is. Grace and Peace, Phil Pastor Phil will be on vacation May Rev. Greg Briggs, Interim Minister at First Congregational Church of Grand Ledge, will be covering pastoral needs while Phil is away. Pastor Greg s cell phone number is (616)

2 Graduation Sunday is June 4 th Do you have a child or grandchild graduating from high school or college this year? Please submit a few lines to say where they are going next on their life s journey. If you would like to write a short bio on your graduate it will appear in the June Chanticleer and in the Bulletin on June 4 th. Deadlines for graduation articles are as follows: Chanticleer Deadline is May 18 th Bulletin Deadline is May 31 st

3 Kid s Stuff!!! Potter Park Zoo Day Trip Saturday, May 6 Summer Reading program and Family Movie Night Begins June 19 th at 6 pm Teacher Recognition Sunday Confirmation Sunday May 21 st during church

4 Thanks to you, our wonderful Church Family. The hurdles we faced on Stan s last journey were made easier to face because of the love showered upon us. Thank you for the continued support. Dottie Moore

5 Movie Night!!! Sunday, May 7 th at 6:30 pm Save the date for our next movie night: Sunday, May 7th at 6:30 PM. Join us as we watch the inspiring and award-winning documentary, Paper Clips. When the students of Tennessee s Whitwell Middle School began studying the Holocaust as a way to learn about intolerance and diversity, nobody could have predicted the results. In 2001, the Paper Clip Project culminated in a unique memorial that changed the lives of those who created it, as well as touching Holocaust survivors and countless communities. From the Trustees, Approved Financial Figures as of March 31, 2017 (General Budget Only, NOT restricted accounts) Month of March 2017 Income: $12, Expense: $27, Loss: $14, January 1 thru March 31, 2017 Income: $54, Expense: $52, Gain: $ 1,727.56

6 Please follow the ongoing church calendar in the bulletin and Chanticleer. If you have any dates for the year, please share them so we can keep the calendar up to date. With the many projects currently ongoing and just beginning, Advisory is the place for coordination and communication. Please feel free to attend our meetings if you have a concern, question, or just want to see what's going on. Amy Frost, Moderator Upcoming Church Activities May 3 Community Dinner 3:30 to 5 Eagles May 6 Potter Park Zoo Trip May 20 Trash Walk May 21 ReVisioning Project Idea Sharing June 7 Choir Concert August 9 Community Dinner 3:30 to 5 - Eagles October 15 Harvest Feast Noon to 2 pm October 25 Community Dinner 3:30 to 5 - Eagles Nov 3&4 Bazaar Nov 24&25 Festival of Trees Dec 2 Hanging of the Greens at 9 am

7 ASK BUD.May 2017 Bud: As the Congregational Commons Project is getting underway, how are we paying for all these new costs? Are we taking money from pledges and general funds? Mr. Nervous Dear Nervous! No, No, No, don t be nervous! This has been well planned as to how we pay for this wonderful new project. A large portion will be coming from in-kind services from our vendors. That is that take something they want and we get services. As an example, the asphalt/concrete removal will be part donation from the vendor Crandall Trucking. They will be taking away all the asphalt/concrete for free as they will recycle for their use. A company in Marshall that does countertops will be donating the stone (that they do not use) for FREE a savings of about $8,000!!! We cart and sort, but it is FREE. Swanson Electric wanted some of the electrical things and gave us a $200 credit on the cost of electrical. Gifts/Endowments/Grants and money makers will help with the rest. $ Bud s Budget Bite s $ MAY 2017 Our Monthly collections of Pledges and gifts have been pretty much on track up to this period. The Members of this Church have been faithful stewards in their donations. This quarter will see a big chunk of money come out as it is the quarterly payment of Health Insurance and all the other quarterly payments due at this time. Do not be alarmed when you see our GAIN go down, this is expected at this time of year. Our other collections for Summer Reading Program and the Camp Talahi program were overwhelming and each of these programs are thankful for the grateful giving of our congregation. There will be more news later on Fund Raising for the Congregational Commons and how you can be involved. There are many behind the curtains work being done on this project to assure that donations/gifts/memorial/in-kind donations/grants are identified for the cost of this wonderful area being developed. If you would like to give a donation as a Gift or Memorial please see that this is a wonderful way to support this project. We will have a list of those Companies that have been supportive of this project and what they have done to assure we stay in our projected budget. Remember this is a 3 to 4 Phase Project done over a few years. Thanks to the Commons Project Design/Implementation group under Matt Slot! Way to go TEAM!!

8 We completed the spring shoe boxes and delivered them to SIREN/Eaton, and Eaton Clothing and Furniture. We filled 60 boxes this year. Thank you to everyone who donated boxes, items for the boxes, and/or helped to fill and wrap them. This church is truly amazing. We used almost all the boxes we had so please continue to save them for us. We do have space to store them at the church. We are partnering again with Peace Lutheran Church to sponsor a concert on the square this summer. We are waiting until the list is complete to pick a date. We will have our famous homemade ice cream sandwiches at the concert along with sidewalk chalk and bubbles for the kids April 5 we sponsored a community dinner. There were leftovers form the Feb. spaghetti supper that we used. We served approx. 60 people and 7 servers. Leftover were taken to House of Ruth. We have another dinner May 3. We have cleaned 2 yards so far. This service is much appreciated by the individuals. Please remember the Trash Walk supporting CARA May 20 and please remember to recycle. Story Hour which is the summer reading program here at the church starts June 18 and runs through August 21 every Monday except July 3. Please encourage any children you know to come. They get free books besides hearing good stories. Strengthen the Church is coming up June 4. More information will be coming. We will not be meeting in May due to the ReVisioning meeting May 21. Our next meeting is June 18. Stay Tuned, Mary Normand, Chair

9 Second Annual Friends of the Charlotte Area Recycling Authority 5K Trash Walk/Run Fundraiser Set for May 20 Recycling is an easy way for each of us to do something that protects the environment. A number of us at First Congregational have taken our newspapers, tin cans, aluminum, Styrofoam, glass jars and more to the Charlotte Area Recycling Authority site on Hall St. for many years. Some members use their by-the-bag drop off trash service. For a variety of reasons, CARA is facing financial challenges. Friends of CARA have held a spaghetti dinner fundraiser earlier this year to help. They are also organizing the Second Annual 5K Trash Walk/Run at 9:00 a.m. Saturday May 20 at Bennett Park to benefit our local recycling site. A couple of us from the church participated in 2016, with several members supporting us with donations. The event was well organized and fun. Please consider joining us on May 20 and we could walk as a team (wearing our Be the Church T-shirts?). For further information, see Helen Schneider, Outreach Board. Recycle Old Toothbrushes and Empty Toothpaste Tubes at CARA Old toothbrushes and empty toothpaste tubes can now be recycled at Charlotte Recycling Authority at 201 Hall St. in Charlotte. Through a partnership between Colgate and TerraCycle, these and other used oral hygiene products will be processed and remolded into other products such as park benches.

10 YOUTH IN CHURCH We are a work in progress.. Overall Goal: Build a Youth Program and Renovate current Youth Room for activities Work days ahead are: Having a table on the lawn for the Citywide Garage Sale May 19 th and 20 th WE NEED ADULT Volunteers as we are a small group and have school all day on the 19 th! Work day at Congregational Commons service day Serving at Coffee Hour on Teacher Recognition Sunday service day The carpet in the Youth Room has taken a beating over the years and is in need of being cleaned. So, if you see all our stuff in the hallway by the Youth Room, we are not moving out, we are just making it easier to paint the walls and have the carpet cleaned. There will be two Graduates this spring, Frankie Taylor and Luke Slot. Please congratulate them on all their accomplishments. Stop by the Youth Room and take a look! We are a work in progress.. Maybe pictures next month on our improvements What does Youth Group Need? Youth

11 NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVES By Auntie Archive I ve already introduced you to our first minister, Wollcot B. Williams. How I do wish we could have met him. His dedication and love for our fledgling congregation was incredible and we can tell from his writings he was extremely intellectual. However, after reading many of his letters and articles in which he was quoted, it is very evident that he had a wry sense of humor. I give you an example: (remember, the Basswood church had no foundation but stood upon oak blocks which were 18 to 20 inches high) One rainy Sunday in autumn a young rooster went under the church for shelter, Rev. Williams begins, and just as I began my sermon his shrill voice rang out, cock-a-doodle-do and will you believe it, that rooster kept it up every few minutes all through the sermon. If he had stayed at home and crowed no one would have thought of laughing at it, but coming so unexpectedly in the midst of the sermon it was superlatively ridiculous. I never knew what became of him, but he spoiled that sermon and if he got his desserts, he went into a pot before Christmas. Before another Sunday we had some heavy planks spiked on to keep out all such intruders. Also during those days, swine roamed at their own sweet will through the streets of Charlotte. Before I knew it, several had formed a partnership and worked one of the planks off and made a nest of leaves and shavings under the middle of the church. The first I knew of their presence was after I had begun my sermon on a bitter cold night in midwinter. There evidently were not bed clothes enough for all and if hogs swear, those hogs surely did that night. There was much aggravated snarling, growling, biting and squealing, but what was I to do? I thought of sending a deacon to drive them out but I knew if I did, I should soon hear him under there as well and if he once got them out I must keep him there till the meeting was over or the pigs would be back again. I abandoned my plan and went through with my sermon as best as I could, fully be persuaded that when evil spirits invaded the swine in olden times they were not all drowned in the depths of the sea. The Basswood Church was home to this congregation until 1876, through slavery, secession, emancipation, Civil War, reconstruction, inflation, depression and from wagon train to railroads. It is so wonderful that some of our history has been preserved for us and we can draw upon it, not only to entertain but to strengthen our faith and love for our congregation. Grace & Peace Auntie

12 Music Notes by Ramona Kime, Director of Music Advances in technology over the past decade have greatly increased our ability to connect with others around the world. Through the internet and social media, we can have instant connections and awareness of even the smallest details of people s lives. However, despite this, there s a disturbing trend toward a silo mentality that of creating lives and living near, but separate, from others; toward not wanting to play with others ; and toward seeing others as different from us. As a musician, though, I love seeing how music can be a connector between those silos. Music is a common language that can cross many barriers. When I was a high school student, I toured Europe for 5 weeks with the choir from Musical Youth International. One of my favorite memories was of a home stay in Holland. The parents spoke several languages fluently, including English, but the young children hadn t started learning English yet. But I spent the evening accompanying their young son as he played the cello, and music was our only common language. It was a beautiful experience. Another example of the connecting force of music is the massed choir that was formed for the Good Friday service this past month. Musicians from three churches came together to sing a massed choir piece for a service that s very special in the lives of Christians. While our own brands of Christianity may vary slightly, our commonalities far outweigh our differences. The open mic night at Windwalker is another example of music bringing people together. Musicians with a range of abilities and performing a range of musical styles all get together to share their music with each other, clapping their hands, tapping their feet, and just enjoying the ambiance of a musical evening with other human beings. So how can we continue to reach out to others, both to the community in general and to other churches specifically? Or to those within our church who may still not feel a part of our community? Our new Congregational Commons, and the plans that are developing, will give us more opportunities to reach out to others. Hosting band concerts or other performances on our stage will be a great start. Music can be a connecting force, and we can use that force for good!

13 Minister: Every Member Minister of Worship and Congregational Life Phil Hobson Director of Music Ramona Kime Moderator Amy Frost Vice Moderator Curt Scott Board of Deacons Matt Slot Board of Trustees Judi Cates Board of Christian Education Amy Slot Outreach Board Mary Normand Church Clerk Barbara Anderson Financial Secretary Don Johnson Treasurer Eric Crandall Staff: Office Manager Sher Brown Custodian Rex Todd The Chanticleer is a monthly newsletter, distributed to members and friends of First Congregational Church. We welcome most comments and articles. Chanticleer article deadline is the 18 th of each month. address: fcuc@sbcglobal.net Mission Statement of First Congregational Church Our church will provide a place and direction for joining with God, healing the broken, and education for youth and adults. We will be challenged by our faith to reach out to our congregants, our community and world family, and to offer opportunities for spiritual growth and renewal. We welcome others into our Christian Family. Sunday Worship: 10:00 a.m., Children s Sunday School: 10 a.m. Adult Bible Studies: Sunday 8:15 a.m., Tuesday at 6:30 pm Men s Group: Saturday 8:00 a.m. Senior Choir meets each Wednesday at 7 pm in the Lounge Board of Trustees meet the third Monday of the 6:30 pm in the Annex Library Advisory board meets the third Thursday of the 6:30 pm in the Annex Small Meeting Room Women s Prayer Circle Women of the church are welcome the 1 st & 3 rd Thursday of each month at 10:30 am in the Annex Library. Blanche Moyer Circle May 8th At 6:30 pm in the Lounge Website address: ucccharlotte.org Church Office: Hours: Tuesday thru Friday from 9 am to 3 pm Phone Number: Prayer Shawl Ministry meets The 1 st & 3 rd Saturdays at 9:00 am. Love to knit or crochet? Don t know how? We ll teach you! Come & join us we would love to have you!