From Our Church Family

Transcription

1 THE COMMUNICON Union Congregational Church, UCC An Open and Affirming Congregation Peterborough, New Hampshire DECEMBER 2017 From Our Church Family As Pastor Bob and Jodi mourn the tragic loss of their son-in-law, we, their church family, grieve with them. All we can offer are our prayers, our compassion, our hugs, and our love and those we give with all our hearts.

2 Please Keep in Your Prayers Worship This Month December 3 First Sunday of Advent Advent candle lighters: Marty Price and Theresa Poirier Many people feel supported and blessed by our continuing prayers. Please remember to keep the following people in your prayers: Carl and Marilyn B Gia C and Emma C Ruth C, friend of Deb H Lisa and Patrick F Kathleen F Debbie H Sandy H Katherine, friend of Carele M Lynn N Cheryl N Omosasa Fellowship Center in Kenya Larry S Ron S, Larry S s brother Joe W and everyone in our church community To add or delete names from this ongoing prayer list, please contact Martha CB in the office (at or officeucc@comcast.net) by the twentieth of the month. December 10 Second Sunday of Advent Advent candle lighters: Carole Fish, David Fish, Laura Gingras December 17 Third Sunday of Advent Christmas pageant: Ruby s Runaway Pageant Advent candle lighters: Win Nelson and Tracy Messer December 24 Fourth Sunday ofadvent Advent candle lighters: Katherine Boyer and Bev Boyer December 24 Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 7 p.m. To make a prayer request for the weekly worship bulletin, please contact the office by 10 a.m. on Wednesday. December 31 First Sunday after Christmas Thinking about Joining Us? See you in church! Have you been thinking about joining Union Congregational Church? Would you like to learn more about what s involved? The Deacons will be hosting a two-part informational session in the parlor after church on January 7 and 14, and you re invited! There s no obligation just a chance to learn more about the church and for all of us to get better acquainted. Interested? Please speak to Pastor Bob or any of the deacons (Mike Crocker, Martha Dahl, Laura Gingras, Pattie Ingelstrom, Karen Loudon, Mary Reis, Suzanne Schoel, or Sharon Smith). We d love to save a chair for you! Bible Studies Bible Studies will be on hiatus until January 10, when we ll resume discussing Romans. Starting January 10, Bible Studies will meet every Wednesday, January 10. You re welcome to join us for one or all of our discussions. 2

3 Greetings, UCC Friends! We are winding down the Stewardship Pledge Drive for the 2018 year, and are watching the numbers closely. Although we re not close to our goal of $180,000 for 2018, as of November 12 we d received 50 pledges. Since we had 78 pledges last year, we re hoping the remaining pledges push us toward our goal. We thank you for your continued generosity and consideration. Your giving supports the work we do as the body of Christ for our local and global community, and is appreciated deeply. On behalf of the Stewardship Committee, thank you for everything you give now and throughout the year. The Stewardship Committee (Matt, Laura, and Judy) Rides to Church Services and Events The Deacons are endeavoring to offer rides to church services and events as a part of supporting the church community. If you need a ride please contact Martha CB, in the church office ( ), or Mike Crocker ( ). Please try to give us three to four days of advance notice. In addition, if you are willing to be a driver please contact Martha CB in the office or Mike Crocker. It would be great to put together a list of available drivers. Happy Advent Season!!! Cheers, Mike Crocker To Those Who Want Pledge Envelopes and to Those Who Don t! Our assistant treasurer has assigned 2018 pledge envelopes to those who used them in If you d like to change your envelope status, please Marilyn at mbrittons@comcast.net. Our Prayers and Condolences go to Lucy Nordahl and her family on the passing of her husband, John Nordahl, on November 21. John passed away peacefully in his sleep. We will share more information with church members as we learn more about a memorial service. Winter Closings Policy The Council has reviewed our snow protocol and decided that to protect people s safety, we will close the church building during extreme weather, even if that means canceling a worship service. Here s what to expect and where to find information: When ConVal schools are closed, the church is closed, and evening programs are also cancelled. Look for ConVal in WMUR s list of closings. When school is not in session, Pastor Bob will post a closing announcement on WMUR by 7 a.m. and make an outgoing message on the office answering machine; in this case, look for Union Congregational Church, Peterborough rather than ConVal on the WMUR listing. For Sundays, Bob will make the call to cancel worship by 7 a.m. and will follow the same protocol (post on WMUR and make an outgoing message on the office answering machine). Bob will also make decisions about snow closings on Saturdays. Again, on weekends, look for Union Congregational Church, Peterborough in the WMUR listing. You can find WMUR cancellations on TV during news broadcasts and also online at These same policies apply to outside groups that use the church building. 3

4 As always, the season of Advent brings forth lovely music in anticipation of the miraculous birth of Christ Jesus. This year the four Sundays will focus on the Virgin Mary, Joseph, the children, angels and shepherds, and then the birth of Jesus on Christmas Eve. Each Sunday will lend a perspective from these special messengers of God and how the message is still alive in each of us today. Our choirs will share the message through voice and bells! Come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord! RING & SING Join the Tower Ringers and choirs as we go to RiverMead, Summerhill, and, Scott- Farrar to ring and sing Christmas carols on Sunday afternoon, December 3. We will meet at church at 1:30 p.m. to be at these locations: RiverMead at 2 p.m. Summerhill at 3 p.m. Scott-Farrar at 4 p.m. We should be finished at 5 p.m. If you can't be with us for the entire afternoon, it's OK to come to just one or two places. For more information, please ask Carele Mayer. Ruby s Runaway Pageant Get ready for a surprise when Ruby orders a traditional Christmas pageant and gets something else instead! Join our intergenerational Christmas offering with the Sunday School children on December 17 as we present Ruby s Runaway Pageant. Find out how the miracle of Jesus birth can happen in spite of the chaos of the season and unexpected set-backs! Questions from Women s Fellowship (1) Did you forget to buy a few more goodies from our church s Holiday Fair? You re in luck! Many items will still be available to buy at our Christmas Boutiques on Saturday, December 2, and Saturday, December 9, in our church nursery from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (2) Are you coming to our December 24 morning worship service? Would you kindly contribute something tasty for our coffee hour afterward? It would be such a pleasant way to celebrate Christmas. (Please bring your goodies to our church kitchen before church.) Thank you from your Women s Fellowship Steering Committee Hello from the Sunday School Hello everyone! We ve heard some questions about what goes on upstairs, so we want to give you a little taste of how we learn. Our curriculum is the Whirl! Classroom curriculum produced by Sparkhouse Publishing. Each Sunday the children and youth read a story from the Bible that will be the focus for the day. This story is drawn as a clue that is located on the bulletin board for other church members and youth to guess or recall. After we read the story, the children discuss and explore further through a hands-on craft or activity. These crafts or activities help the children understand the Bible story and can be used as a way for them to also explain and discuss it with others in the church. If you re ever curious what we re learning upstairs, ask a child to explain their craft or activity that they bring downstairs. They are always excited to share what they learn! If you would like a firsthand look at our Sunday School program, please feel free to sign up to be a helper on the yellow sheet next to our bulletin board in the hall. We always love having new and previous helpers upstairs learning with us! Emily Foote 4

5 End 68 Hours Needs Help It s a sticky situation. End 68 Hours of Hunger is currently sending food home with more than 170 children in the ConVal School District every weekend. That includes peanut butter every other week or nearly 350 containers of peanut butter every month! And as the number of children served grows, the bank account shrinks. This church has been so generous in donations of both cash and peanut butter already. During this holiday season, would you be willing to dig into your pockets and your grocery cart yet again, and help restock the shelves for End 68 Hours? It truly does make a difference for a lot of hungry kids. Thank you so much! Left: The UCC packing crew was busy again the week before Thanksgiving, along with a crew from Divine Mercy. This lineup shows less than 5% of what went home for vacation week! Thank You for using our Building Use Agreement forms for each and every church event, even the ones we do the same way every year. Filling out the form completely saves Martha CB in the office time making phone calls and ing people to find out if any setup is needed, when events begin and end, and so on. She needs this information to list events in our calendar and to promote them, and to make sure that the room is set up the way you need it. Thank you to all the volunteers who made the Holiday Fair such a success! Left: Ginger helps with sales at the fair. Below, l to r: Ann, Margaret, Joni, and Dotty sell holiday goodies. Keep Up with Us Online Be sure to check out our website ( where we ve recently posted more photos, and our Facebook page ( for more news. Be sure to like us! 5

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7 SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY a.m.: Men s Breakfast (FH, K) 10 a.m. 1 p.m.: Christmas Boutique (N) 3 1st Sunday of Advent 10 a.m.: Worship, Communion, Jr. Choir (S) 11:30 a.m.: Pageant Rehearsal (S) 2 p.m.: Ring & Sing (RiverMead) 3 p.m.: Ring & Sing (Summerhill) 4 p.m.: Ring & Sing (Scott-Farrar) 4 9:30 a.m.: Women s Fellowship (P) 5:30 p.m.: Community Supper (FH, K) 6:30 p.m.: Shepherd s Play Rehearsal (FH) 5 8:30 a.m.: Staff (P) 6 5:30 p.m.: Venture Crew (FH) 7 8:30 a.m.: SNHS/ WIC (C, P) 6:30 p.m.: Bells (C) 6:30 p.m.: Jr. Choir (U) 7 p.m.: AA (FH) 7:30 p.m.: Senior Choir (C) 8 9 Deacons (P) 10 a.m. 1 p.m.: Christmas Boutique (N) 1 p.m.: Paint Night (FH) 10 2nd Sunday of Advent 10 a.m.: Worship (S) 11:15 a.m.: Music Cmt (P) 4 p.m.: Animaterra Concert (setup starts at 1 p.m. (S) 17 3rd Sunday of Advent 10 a.m.: Worship, Christmas Pageant, Jr. Choir, Sr. Choir (S) a.m.: Annual Reports due 3 p.m.: Girl Scouts (P) 5:30 p.m.: Community Supper (FH, K) 7 p.m.: Finance (P) 7 p.m.: Shepherd s Play (FH) 18 5:30 p.m.: Community Supper (FH, K) 6:45 p.m.: Council (P) 12 8:30 a.m.: Worship Planning (P) 6:30 p.m.: Paint Night (FH) 19 8:30 a.m.: Staff (P) a.m.: Deadline for January issue of the Communicon Noon 2 p.m.: PLDG (P) 14 6:30 p.m.: Bells (C) 6:30 p.m.: Pargeant Rehearsal (S) 7 p.m.: AA (FH) 7:30 p.m.: Senior Choir (C) 21 6:30 p.m.: Bells (C) 6:30 p.m.: Jr. Choir (U) 7 p.m.: AA (FH) 7:30 p.m.: Sr. Choir (C) 15 7 p.m.: Shepherd s Play (FH) th Sunday of Advent 10 a.m.: Worship (S) 7 p.m.: Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, Bells, Jr. and Sr. Choirs (S) 31 New Year s Eve 10 a.m.: Worship (S) 25 Christmas Day Office closed. 26 Office closed p.m.: AA (FH) Key: C = Chapel FH = Fellowship Hall P = Parlor K = Kitchen KC = Kitchen just for coffee OS = Off-site PO = Pastor s Office S = Sanctuary U = Upstairs Calendar is subject to change. Please visit -of-events for updates. 7

8 COMMUNICON Vol. 63 No. 11 Union Congregational Church, United Church of Christ An Open and Affirming Congregation 33 Concord Street Peterborough, NH Minister: The Rev. Dr. Robert Marrone Pastor s office hours: 8:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m., Mon. Thurs. Worship Service: 10 a.m. Nursery Care Provided Church Office: Kitchen: Church office hours: 8:30 a.m. 12:30 p.m., Mon. Fri.; except 2 5 p.m. on Monday, December 18 officeucc@comcast.net Editor: Martha Carlson-Bradley Proofreaders: Karen Loudon and Sharon Smith Silent Squad Support Team: Janet Brown, Randy Brown, Carolyn Peacock Deadline for January issue issue: 10 a.m., December 20 Union Congregational Church United Church of Christ 33 Concord Street Peterborough, NH 03458