THE CHURCH BELL SEPTEMBER 2018 The First Congregational Church Newsletter

Transcription

1 Volume 63, No. 8 The Church Bell THE CHURCH BELL SEPTEMBER 2018 The First Congregational Church Newsletter A Congregation of the United Church of Christ At 26 Central Street in West Boylston online at The Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from his holy Word. - John Robinson, pastor to the Pilgrims Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and let anyone who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, Out of the believer s heart shall flow rivers of living water. ~ John 7:37-38 NRSV INSIDE THIS ISSUE Worship and Church School at 10:00 a.m. Childcare will be provided for all Sunday services starting September 9. September 2 ~ United Worship The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost The Sacrament of Holy Communion September 9 ~ The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost Homecoming Sunday Church School will resume. The Chancel Choir will return to the loft. A Festive Homecoming Reception follows worship in Fellowship Hall. Greetings from Greg..2 Worship Time Reminder Board of Church Life....3 Christian Outreach WB Food Pantry Second Chance Thrift Shop Church School News....4 October Bell Deadline Thank You Adult Discussion Group Prayer and Praise Birthdays Church Staff /Address.Back Page September 16 ~ The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Chancel Ringers September 23 ~ The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Chancel Choir September 30 ~ The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost Chancel Choir

2 Greetings from Greg. The Church Bell 2 Dear Friends, I trust you have had a restful and enjoyable summer. The lazy days of summer are coming to an end and the busyness that September brings to our lives will engulf us all too soon. I have three items for you to know this month. First, if you have attended a worship service in our church during August you will have noticed a few minor changes to the order of worship. My guess is that some of you will not even notice them. We might make a few more changes as the fall goes along. I remind you, for the last time, part of my responsibility as the interim is to ensure that you do not keep everything as it was. To do so would make it more difficult for the next pastor to make his or her mark on the church - without getting fired for changing things. Second, there is a BIG CHANGE coming to the TIME of our worship. After conversations with the Church Council, the staff, and the Board of Church Life we have decided to MOVE THE START of worship to 10 AM. This means worship will start 15 minutes earlier than in the past. It also means our religious education program will start, and end earlier. My children suggested that I could use that extra 15 minutes to preach really long sermons. That won t be happening - I assure you. The intent is to get you home a little earlier on Sunday. Finally, as we begin to prepare for the search for a new pastor there is some work to be done. Another part of my role is to help you develop a church profile to distribute to candidates. The first step in this is to create a history of the church. I understand that you might have done this a few years ago, but since it has been a few years it is worth going through the process again. So I hope some of you will join me on Saturday, September 22nd from 9AM - until 12 to engage in this exercise. I hope you enjoy the last couple of weeks of summer and I look forward to welcoming you back to worship on homecoming Sunday, September 9th. Faithfully Yours, Greg

3 The Church Bell 3 *Please note 10:00 a.m. worship time will continue through the Fall* The Board of Church Life welcomes everyone back to church and we hope that everyone enjoyed their summer and returns renewed and refreshed as we now begin to settle into our fall schedule of activities. First, we'd like to thank everyone who has assisted our board's monthly coordinators and has served as ushers, greeters, lay readers, and coffee servers for our Sunday services. As you know, our schedule of servers is always posted on the BOCL bulletin board in Fellowship Hall near the side door exit. You will find both the current month and the following month there. Our BOCL monthly coordinators certainly appreciate all those who come forward and volunteer to serve in one of these positions for our Sunday services. Each month, one of our board members serves as a coordinator to reach out to our congregation asking for help with these duties. For the month of September, our BOCL coordinator is Matt Rogers and Allison Person. If you are willing to serve as an usher, greeter, lay reader, or coffee server on a Sunday in September, please write your name on the schedule, and confirm it with Matt by or mmrogers232@gmail.com. You may also contact Allison by and by allison1960@aol.com. Our annual Homecoming Reception will be held on September 9th right after church in Fellowship Hall. While the members of the Board of Church Life coordinate the reception for all church members and friends, we are also asking for about 6-8 members to volunteer to bake or bring an apple themed dessert for the reception that day. If you are willing to bake or bring a dish, please contact Matt to confirm and let us know what it would be. Thanks! The next BOCL meeting is Tuesday, September 4th at 7:00 pm in the chapel. Again, thanks to all of you who serve our church in this way! We appreciate your help!" Matt Rogers

4 The Church Bell 4 CHRISTIAN OUTREACH BOARD NEWS Upcoming Events SECOND CHANCE THRIFT SHOP, FAMILY & NYC JOHN STREET SOUP KITCHEN Our next opportunity to volunteer at the John Street Soup Kitchen will be: Saturday, September 1 We need: 30 lbs. of mashed potatoes in 5lb increments Desserts: 4 dozen squares or cookies Deliver to our church kitchen by 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, September 1. People to help serve Please contact Dave O Brien at or dnbobrien@gmail.com for more information. HOPE for HOUSING PURCHASE GROCERY CARDS CVS Stop & Shop Big Y Shaw s Hannaford Build a Habit...Save a Home Together, we can end family homelessness! Food Cards are available for purchase each Sunday following worship. Checks are accepted for payment You purchase food cards- value from $10 - $100 You receive the full face value of the card you purchase. What you don t spend remains on your card for later use. The store donates 5% of what you spend to prevent family homelessness. WB FOOD PANTRY First Congregational Church partners with Oakdale United Methodist, Christ Lutheran and Our Lady of Good Council churches in West Boylston to host a Food Pantry. It is open from 1-3 p.m. on the 3 rd Tuesday of every month. Donations of food and money are always welcome. Donations may be left in the blue bins in the ramp entrance. Thanks so much for your generosity. This project was funded in part by a grant from the Greater Worcester Community Foundation. Nexus - the young lady on the cover of the brochure is Hanna Lauer from our church. Hanna s wearing a Second Chance Thrift Shop sweater on the cover of the brochure in New York City. Yes we fit in anywhere. SHOP SECOND CHANCE THRIFT SHOP IN SEPTEMBER 2nd floor FCC Contact Darlene for further info: or lauerdarlene@yahoo.com Church School News Calling all 9th graders! We will be starting confirmation classes shortly after Homecoming Sunday. Please let Mrs. Doonan know if you will be participating in confirmation so we can order enough books. Thank You, Pam Doonan Calling all Church School Participants!!!! Church school will be resuming on Homecoming Sunday, September 9th at 10am (please note time change). We are all looking forward to a fun filled year. We have great bible stories and lessons to share with you!! Looking forward to see all of your smiling faces on September 9th!!!! The Teachers and CE board.

5 The Church Bell 5 The October Bell Deadline is Thursday, September 13. Send address changes to administrator@fccwb.com CHURCH OFFICE HOURS MONDAY THRU FRIDAY 9:00 A.M. - 2:00 P.M. TELEPHONE: FAX: OFFICE administrator@fccwb.com WEBSITE: Messages may be left on the church phone system for the staff at any time. Pastor Greg Schmidt (ext. 101) Administrative Assistant-Lisa Fisher (ext. 100) Financial office (ext. 103) Staff addresses are: Greg: greg@fccwb.com George: gvogel@charter.net Financial Office: financial@fccwb.com Christian Ed Office: pjmdoon@msn.com Community Nursery School: cnswb@fccwb.com Greetings from the Adult Discussion Group We hope that everyone has enjoyed a restful summer and is ready to return to our normal regular season routine. The group will return to our Wednesday meeting schedule on September 19th. As discussed in the summer Bell article, we will begin a five part series by Adam Hamilton entitled, Unafraid, living in hope and courage during uncertain times. Each session begins with a DVD overview of the week s subject followed by group discussion. The daily news, stressors about the health and safety of family and friends, and general concerns about the future all give us plenty of things to worry about. During this series we will discuss how the encouragement of scripture, a strong prayer life, and the support of our church family can help to carry us through these difficult times. We invite you to be with our group on Wednesday evenings from 7.00 to 8.30 PM. Hope to see you on September19th. Blessings, George I want to thank all the many people in our wonderful Church Family who have supported me and my family over the past three years. These 3 years have been difficult beyond measure, especially You have prayed for us, offered comfort outside the church building, greeted me always with smiles, hugs, support, and love. I can't possibly convey in words how much this has meant to me nor how much you have all helped, unbeknownst to you, to keep me afloat. I can honestly tell you that never before during my life have I felt so much loving-kindness directed toward me and my family. I feel a part of loving, supportive Christian Family. I still cry in church, but now I cry because my heart is so full with Love for Our Lord, Jesus Christ, and my love for all of You, our wonderful Church Family. Carol Rotti ********************************************************** Thank you for the beautiful flowers and the thoughtful cards following the death of my father-in-law. Your love and support has given my family great comfort. Lisa Fisher Prayer and Praise All those with health concerns: Jim Bronwell Lynne Pierce-Arlette and Bill Peterson s friend Steven Small Sophia Landeo Bernadette White one of our faithful Second Chance Thrift Shop stewards Tony-Sharon Seale s brother-in-law David Holmes-Amie Dehner s step-father Debbie Thomas-Carol Rotti s cousin Bob Akins-Marsha Saunder s brother Valerie-friend of the Poland family Lori Rotti-Carol Rotti s daughter-in-law Danielle Akins-Marsha Saunders niece Ursula Helle Ryan-Arlette Peterson s coworker s husband Greg Phelps-Lue Hawley s nephew Janet Friberg-Carol Rotti s cousin Lisa Robertson-Carol Rotti s niece Jeff White Cheryl Nolan Nancy Osterberg Kathy L.-friend of Nancy Thomson and Kristjon Imperio Wider concerns: Thanksgiving for all who come through our doors. Our service men and women around the world and their families. Those who are unemployed among us and around the country.

6 Volume 63, No. 8 The Church Bell Back page FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 26 CENTRAL STREET, WEST BOYLSTON, MA The Reverend Dr. Gregory Schmidt, Interim Pastor Kristjon Imperio, Minister of Music Lisa A. Fisher, Administrative Assistant, Editor Kendrik Imperio, Custodian The Reverend Steven A. Small, Senior Pastor Emeritus The Reverend George E. Vogel, Associate Pastor Emeritus William E. Nierintz, Ch.M., Minister of Music Emeritus Heidi Pisano, Community Nursery School Director PHONE: FAX: administrator@fccwb.com WEBSITE: Birthdays To Celebrate In September 01 Owen Cahn 02 Jackson Espe 02 Dennis Parker 05 Matthew Holt 06 Ace Shliapa 08 Muriel Stiles 09 Liz Franger 09 Grace Leslie 09 Melinda Minville 09 Sarah Rowell 09 Joseph Testagrossa 12 Evelyn Keith 13 Helen Holt 14 Callie Cahn 16 Roy Hayward 19 James Chamberlain 21 Levi Raymond 21 Abigail Gulbicki 22 Kristjon Imperio 22 Connie Stewart 23 David Coviello 23 Lynne Pierce 25 John Benson 25 Rebecca Bourque 27 Jacquelyn Leveille 28 Dawn Seiple 29 Tyler Franger 29 Carol Ann Hamilton 29 Cathleen Ketchum 30 Robert Denny 30 Marissa Gardner