THE MEETINGHOUSE MESSENGER

Transcription

1 The First Congregational Church in Stoneham THE MEETINGHOUSE MESSENGER October 2017 United Church of Christ Coming Events: Oct. 1 World Communion Oct. 1 Church Council after Worship Oct. 14 The Sound of Broadway Dinner Theater Oct nd Golden Age Sunday with Golden Oldies Music & Luncheon Dec. 8 & 9 Christmas Fair Broadway Dinner Theater The Sound of Broadway dinner theater event will be presented at 6 pm on Saturday, October 14 th in Fellowship Hall. This is our 4 th annual Cantata fundraiser and some of your favorite performers are back again as requested! Tickets are still available in the church office and at coffee hours. This Sunday, October 1 st, there will be a Church Council meeting in the parlor at 11:30 am following worship. This meeting is open to all, please feel free to attend! We are an open and affirming congregation of the United Church of Christ Join us on October 22 nd for our annual Golden Age Luncheon, featuring chicken & stuffing casserole, baby carrots, jello salads, bread & butter, and Norwegian apple pie for dessert. GOLDEN AGERS EAT FOR FREE!!! All others - $5

2 Messenger Deadline The deadline for the November Messenger is October 19 th. Please leave all submissions in the Messenger box in the office, or them to the church office at The First Congregational Church in Stoneham 1 Church Street Stoneham, MA (fax) Come Worship with us! Sundays, 10:00 am Staff of the Church Rev. Meredith Allen, Pastor Joyce Simpson, Music Director Leonard Levine, Sexton Sara Thompson, Church Secretary and Messenger Editor Heidi Bilbo, Sunday School Superintendent Lynn Haddad, Treasurer First Church is on TV! Couldn t get the service this week? Loved the sermon so much you want to hear it again? First Church services are rebroadcast all week! The schedule and channels are as follows: Comcast users: Channel 9 Verizon users: Channel 34 RCN users: Channel 3 6:30 pm am 2:00 pm 11:30 am Notes from Joyce Cantata rehearsals have started for our Christmas Cantata. Rehearsals are held every Thursday evening at 7:00 pm in the music room. Please speak to Joyce Simpson if you are interested in joining this wonderful program! Welcome Autumn! October If you would like to be added to the Birthday List, please the church office. 3 Linda Mandeville 4 Wendy Catalano 4 Sara Gagnon 5 Mandy Sawicki 6 Nikki Thain 13 Kateri Byrd 14 Mallory Fucci 15 Bea Griffin 18 Marie Matthews 19 Linda DeAmicis 19 Amanda Lumb 22 Barbara Severance 25 Natasha Giadone 26 Judith Catalano 26 Nancy Sandgren

3 Books & Chocolate We alternate our books with a movie, sometimes related to the book we have last read. We meet on Mondays, book discussion evenings begin at 7:30 and movie nights begin at 7:00 pm. Here is the schedule for this year: October 16 movie November 20 - "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah December 18 movie January 15 - "Saturday Evening Girls' Club" by Jane Healey February 19 movie March 19 - "The Red Coat" by Dolley Carson April 23 movie May 21 - "The Stars are Fire" by Anita Shreve June - field trip, date and destination to be determined Please join us the more the merrier! If you wish you can bring something simply chocolate (no home cooking required!) to share and your tea mug! We meet in the church parlor, very comfy. All the books can be borrowed from your library. Congratulations to this year s Bible recipients: Jillian Machnik Lexi Manni Max Santamaria Food Pantry News Here is our list of Items of the Week for the month of October. Please do your part to help stock our pantry for those in need in our church community and in Stoneham and the neighboring communities. jarred pasta sauce tomato paste ground black pepper pancake mix and syrup Please drop these items in the colorful crates outside the Sanctuary. Laity Sunday is November 12. This is an opportunity for members of the Congregation to participate in the worship service. Would you be interested in reading the call to worship? Would you like to share a short message about your own spiritual journey or why you love First Church? The Deacons are beginning to plan the service. We would love to have members of the congregation help, so please reach out to Darren Sawicki at or dsawicki5@comcast.net if you are interested in helping in any way. Thank you for your consideration.

4 What s next? With Pastor Merrie retiring on Dec. 31, you may have lots of questions like, Now what happens to us? There s a set of procedures to follow, recommended by the UCC, and the Rev. Wendy Vander Hart, Associate Conference Minister for the Metropolitan Boston Association, will guide us. Besides speaking to Pastor Merrie, you may also feel free to talk to Bea Griffin, Joe Haddad, Mark Paolini or Darren Sawicki who can settle your concerns or get the answers you need. There s no such thing as a dumb question! Sunday, October 15 th get your flu shot at coffee hour! Jon Machnik has arranged to have flu shots available at coffee hour on October 15 th for members and friends of First Church. There will be a sign up sheet at coffee hours, and Jon will be available to answer any questions you may have. He may also be contacted at

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6 Christmas Fair The Christmas Fair is drawing near and I am asking for your help. We will be having the raffle baskets and silent auction items again this year and if anyone would like to volunteer their help in making up baskets, calling and picking up raffle donations or donating a basket or items to put in baskets this will be appreciated. We have a variety of baskets we would like to raffle such as Kids basket, Ice Cream basket, Movie basket, Spa basket, Car Care basket and more. Any donation and help is welcomed and my goal would be to have everything in by Nov. 30 th. The Fair dates are Friday, December 8 and Saturday, December 9, If you have any questions please give me a call. Kathy Bergstrom or It is a long standing tradition at First Church to honor the elders in our midst on Golden Age Sunday. We will celebrate the 142 nd Anniversary of this special event on Sunday, October 22 nd 2017, honoring those who are 80 and over. Please contact Sara in the Church Office to add your name or the name of a friend or family member (with permission, please.) Amica There will be no Amica in October. Save Monday, December 4 th for our dinner and Yankee Swap. More info to come later! Acolyte Training! We will hold an Acolyte training class this fall on Sundays October 15 th and 29 th at 11:30 am in the Chapel. Children in grades 5 and up are encouraged to attend. If you or your children have any questions please speak with Donna Wall. Craft Group Our Craft Group has begun its new year of creating items for our fair and holidays. We meet on Tuesday mornings from 9:30am until noon in our room below the sanctuary. Any woman who has the time and inclination is invited to join us. We have tea and refreshments. No special skills are required. Drop in anytime and check us out. We are meeting October 17, 24 and 31.

7 SEAFARER S MISSION Seafarer s Friend, Serving The Maritime Community Through Friendship, Faith & Hospitality since 1827 Sunday School will be collecting items to be put into ditty bags for the sailors that come into port in Boston. We will be making the bags and filling them. Suggested item ideas: Gloves, memo pads, toothpaste, floss, Kleenex, band-aids, hair brushes, razors, pens/pencils, knit hats, calendars, shoe polish, nail files, tooth brushes, mending kit, scarves, playing cards, shoelaces, shaving cream, deodorant, socks, first aid kits, and nail clippers. The collection box will be outside of Pastor Merrie s office. To My Fellow Church Members I would like to thank you for the vote of confidence shown by approving my appointment as new church moderator. Tim will be a hard act to follow but I look forward to the opportunity to contribute what I can to make sure we continue to be the supportive and caring congregation that we are. I hope to see many of you at church council meetings as all are welcome! Faithfully, Kathleen 5K Smiles--Becky Jacques, Michelle Meagher and Shelly MacNeill of the Stoneham Coalition; and Adam Rodgers and Anthony Guardia of the Boys & Girls Club, show big smiles after the 5K Run for Recovery on Town Day. The race, sponsored by the Stoneham Coalition, First Church, and several businesses, raised several thousand dollars to support the Coalition's work in preventing drug and alcohol addiction.

8 "Guide My Feet" was the theme Sept. 16 as baritone Philip Lima and pianist Tudor Bota presented African-American spirituals and gospel music. Lima wove passages from an 1850 sermon delivered in this church by the abolitionist preacher the Rev. William Whitcomb. The concert was the first of the Fall 2017 series at First Church. Right: The Children of First Church s Sunday School program enjoyed the events of Rally Sunday on September 10 th. The UCC is rolling out a new logo! The new logo uses the UCC comma a reminder of the phrase "God is still speaking." The comma has been used as a symbol since 2004 to remind us that God s message to us didn t end with the Bible. In the new logo, the color blue is used to visually and symbolically represent the Creation elements of water and earth.

9 Christmas Fair December 8 & 9 Friday Dec. 8 th 7 to 9 pm with Pie Social Saturday, Dec. 9 th 9 am to 2pm with Coffee Time & Lunch Saturday, Dec. 9 th - 6 pm Church Supper, Menu TBD Adult - $10, Child - $5 VOLUNTEERS CAN SIGN UP AT COFFEE HOURS Each event and table will have a chairperson. You can sign up to help with any of them: Bakers are needed for the pie social, coffee time, lunch, and country store. The Country Store is looking for fudge, preserves, and small gift items. Anything else you can offer would be great as well. Helpers are needed for the Children s Area, White Elephant, and Book Room to set up ahead on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and to cashier at the fair. Sewn and Knit goods are needed for the Cotton/Knit Table. We are in need of strong folks to volunteer to set up after the fair for the supper. We also need the men of the church to help prepare and serve the supper. Donna Wall will be head chef, and the meal will be served family style. Start collecting and bringing your White Elephant items (no clothing except for children s), books, toys, jewelry, etc. to the church and leaving them in the bins outside our new storage room. If you have special items bring them directly to the office for safekeeping. Please, no microwaves, televisions or computers. Silent Auction items, raffle items and jewelry donations should be left in the office.

10 Main Floor Restroom will benefit many The A2A Task Force (Accessible to All) announces a new project that will benefit all of us, especially those with mobility issues a restroom on the Main Floor near the Sanctuary. This means worshippers and guests will have the option of a nearby restroom on the same floor. The restroom will benefit those who cannot use the stairs to the lower floor restrooms, as well as those for whom stairs are difficult. This project will be funded by donations, initiated by a generous donation by Bruce and Louise Netten. Please consider making a donation, either a one-time gift, or a pledge, to help us fund this important renovation. Jake Bruno with his father and brother Ben. Jake won the under 17 men category with a time of 21:49 at the September 16 Run for Recovery 5K road race. More updates coming.

11 Pastor s Corner My dear friends, One of my favorite Stillspeaking devotionals* arrived in my inbox last July. Entitled Lobster Bisque in a Paper Cup, the image alone was worth the read. Author Matt Laney admitted how much he loves hoity toity lobster bisque, especially when it has chunks of lobster meat in it. (And I confess that s my favorite kind too.) And he said the very best bisque he d had came from a quirky café in Maine that served this gourmet delight in a paper cup. The contrast between the humble container and its elegant contents wasn t lost on him. He went on to remind readers that Paul once wrote, We have this treasure in earthen vessels. In other words, our elegant, wonderful bits are held in vulnerable human flesh so we won t forget that all we are belongs to God. It doesn t come from ourselves. Laney goes on, Yet God has dumped her jewelry box into the likes of us to make the contents shine all the more. After all, diamonds stand out better on a pile of dirt than in a pile of treasure. And this heaven-in-an-earthen-cup image has profound import for us. Whenever we think poorly of ourselves, it helps to remember that we are not only "stardust" as Carl Sagan famously said, we are dust that carries the priceless power of God. Conversely, whenever we think too highly of ourselves, it helps to recall that we are only a paper cup. So, my fellow paper cups, let s embrace the changes that are coming our way! Within us is stardust, diamonds, lobster bisque... whatever your preference, we belong to God. God has great things in store for all of us. Just glance around to see what we at First Church have accomplished so far you, me, and God together. Now let s begin to imagine, Wow, what does God have in mind for us next? The world awaits our response! God s rich blessings on you, Merrie * dailydevotional@ucc.org

12 ~The Meetinghouse Messenger October 2017~ The First Congregational Church 1 Church Street Stoneham, MA Telephone: Fax: firstchurchstonehamma@gmail.com Website: Office Hours: Mon-Fri. 8:30 a.m. 2:30 p.m. Sunday Worship: 10:00 AM Staff of the Church Rev. Meredith Allen, Pastor Joyce Simpson, Music Director Leonard Levine, Sexton Sara Thompson, Church Secretary and Messenger Editor Heidi Bilbo, Sunday School Superintendent Lynn Haddad, Treasurer