Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. ~ Luke 2:11-12 (NIV) Serving Centre This Month Miracle in the Barn Facing Elders December 2 December 9 December 23 December 30 Alan Parsons Kay Coltrane Katie Shore Mitchell Mary Hamilton Julie Morrison Flowers The Meeting Room is decorated for Christmas by members. December 2 December 9 December 23 December 30 December 2 December 9 December 23 December 30 Nursery VACANT Amanda Hodgin VACANT VACANT Whitney Sluder Children s Moments Rhonda Kirkman Susie Thomas Amanda Hodgin Katie Shore Mitchell Jamie Horner Centre Friends presents Miracle in the Barn, a live nativity performance. This drama delivers an original script based on the Christmas story in God s Word. You can enjoy live animals, singing, and a wonderful outdoor experience hearing the message of Jesus Christ. Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9 5:00pm (Program will last approximately 1 hour) Admission is free. This is an outdoor event, so dress for the weather. Seating is available or you can bring your own chair. Directions to the Barn: NC Highway 62 to Racine Road; turn South at the traffic light. Continue 1.2 miles on Racine Road until you reach Gregson Road; turn right. Look for signage along the route. Live Nativity Address is 1457 Gregson Road, Pleasant Garden, 27313 Don t miss this outreach opportunity! Invite your family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers to Centre s gift to the community, Miracle in the Barn.
Page 2 Friends, Family, and Neighbors to Remember: Judy Barnes (Margaret Riddle s mother; cancer) Brenda Binkley (Linda Hatchel s friend) Mitchell Breedlove (community member; health issues) Alan Buchanan (community member; health issues) Dale Carroll (John s nephew; cancer) Jim Casson & Family (Linda Hatchel s son-in-law; multiple needs) Artie &Valli Chilton (former members; Artie cancer) Tim Cole (Sandy Ward s brother; recovering @ home) Elaine Collins (Sharon Hice s mother; recovering @ home) Archie Creed (retired YM pastor; cancer) Doris Dillon (member; Clapp s Assisted Living) Ruby Earles (Rick s mother; health issues) Don Everhart (Linda s husband; Alzheimer's) Meghan Goedeck (Stubblefield s granddaughter; health issues) Judith Hartford (Deborah Kirk s mother; recovering @ home) Delane Hatchel (member; health issues) Kenley Hendricks (Jane Jones friend s teenage granddaughter; brain cancer) Shirley Hodgin (member; Alzheimer's) Paula Hoger (Wanda Beason s step-sister; cancer) Karen Hunt (community member; recovering @ home) Bill King (Betty s brother-in-law; heart surgery) David King (Keith Jones Family friend; cancer) Bob Medford (former pastor; health issues @ Friends Homes) Laura Perdue (member; recovering @ home) Buddy Poe (Jimmie Ward s cousin; recovering @ home) Vernon Puckett (Jimmie Ward Family neighbor; cancer) Billy Roberts Family (community member; death of teenage son) Jerry Russell Wiley Shore (Friends Disaster Svs leader; cancer) Betty Smith (member; recovering @ home) Mel & Vickie Smith (Marvene Shore s brother & his wife; health issues) Trevor Summers (Sluder Family teenage friend; cancer) Burgess Thacker (member; health issues) Linda Trogdon (member; recovering @ home) Kenneth & Linda Venable (Terry s parents; health issues) Leigh Ann Venable (member; cancer free) Morris Walker (Martha Jo Jones friend; death of spouse) Becky Wilson (Keith Jones Family friend; cancer) Please help keep our Prayer Requests and Concerns current. To add or delete a name or other information, please email secretary@centrefriends.org. Thank you.
Page 3 Our Attendance & Stewardship Sunday School Worship November 4 50 83 November 11 41 95 November 18 51 98 November 25 53 95 General Fund Total Monthly Offerings $14,341.08 (includes $827.08 Parsonage Rental) Required Monthly Receipts $14,164.00 Children s Christmas Music Practice Every Sunday thru 10:30-10:50am Children s Church Room All children and youth are invited and encouraged to participate! QUAKER MEN COMMUNITY BREAKFAST SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 from 7:00-10:00AM Serving bacon, sausage, country ham, eggs, grits, gravy, and pancakes. Fried apple pies will be for sale and several jars of homemade canned goods have been donated for sale. Rowen David Crocker November 11, 2018 Congratulations to Brittanie (Kirkman) and Blake Crocker on the birth of their son. Rowen is the grandson of Linda Kirkman. (Photo Credit: Barry Morrison) Sunday, December 2, 3:00-5:00pm Pleasant Garden Christmas Parade Thursday, December 6, 6:30-8:30pm Randleman Christmas Parade Once we know our assigned entry number and parade assembly location, it will be announced via email and voice mail. If you wish to ride or walk with the float, you need to sign-up in the Fellowship Hall Foyer. We need walkers to hand out candy and invitations to our live nativity event. Following the parade on December 2, everyone is invited to meet in the Centre Fellowship Hall for pizza, soup, salad, desserts, and a SPECIAL VISITOR!
Page 4 One of my most favorite memories as a child was Christmas Eve. Each year my parents and I would pile in the car loaded with covered dishes and presents and make the quick four-mile drive to my grandparents house. This small, immediate family consisted of me, my parents, my uncle, and my grandparents. We would gather around the old dining room table which was loaded with colors of pink ham, yellow starches, white breads, and red cranberry sauce (yuck!). I could hardly wait to hurry up and inhale my food, so we could get to the gifts. When the time came, we would all assume our usual places and pass out the presents. Being the only child and grandchild, I inevitably would have the most. What can I say? I am loved. Even when I was older, I still rushed through dinner. Later in my life, when my grandparents were in nursing homes, I rushed through visiting them because there was always something better to do, or so I thought. It wasn t until my grandparents were gone that I realized I had hurried through most of my time with them. I would give almost anything to have Christmas Eve with them again; except this time, I would sit at the table and enjoy their presence not just their presents. If only I could go and visit them every day, doing something as simple as sitting and watching TV with them. Christmastime tends to bring on this sense of hurriedness as we go shopping for that perfect gift or schedule that family dinner. So how about this year we just stop? Stop rushing, stop stressing, just stop. Let s start stopping together this Christmas season. Young person, stop and sit with your family. Do not rush to do something you think is better. I promise you, when you are older, you will realize there wasn t anything better. Elder person, stop and sit with your younger family. Teach them what you have experienced, lessons you have learned, and the ways Christ has worked in your life. Together as the family of Jesus Christ, let s just stop and worship, thanking Him for that time we have with each other. I pray that you and your family will have a Spirit-filled Christmas! In reflection, Tommy
Page 5 FEMAP News and Needs Centre s first FEMAP Youth Collection was a huge success thanks to your generosity! Totals from the November collection include: 262 baby washcloths, 76 adult washcloths, 1 baby blanket, 37 hooded bath towels, 2 packs of Band-Aids, 6 baby bath mitts, 24 toothbrushes, 24 small toothpastes, additional supplies purchased with monetary donations. Our December Youth Collection will be Sunday, December 30! We are focusing on SHAMPOO and BAR SOAP with this collection. Please stock up on regular-size shampoo (any brand) and regular-size bar soap (any brand, multi-packs okay). Donations can be placed in the FEMAP box in the Fellowship Hall Foyer, or bring them on December 30 for collection during Worship. FEMAP works year round to provide essential supplies to friends in need. If you have questions, please see Hazel Carroll or Lindsay Shore-Wright. Sunday, A Day Filled with Singing! Centre Volunteers Deliver Meals on Wheels December 10-14 Centre Choir will be sharing special music during the Worship Service at 11:00am. The children and older youth have also been working on music to share this day. At the rise of Worship, everyone is invited to stay and eat their packed lunch in the Fellowship Hall before we go caroling. Ministry & Counsel has arranged for us to go Christmas caroling at Clapp s Nursing Center on Appomattox Road in Pleasant Garden. All ages are encouraged to attend and help spread holiday cheer to the residents. There will be a January Newsletter and Calendar of Events & Birthdays. There is still a need for MEALS ON WHEELS volunteers and substitutes for 2019. It only takes 2 hours, 4 times a year that is 8 hours per year. What a wonderful outreach opportunity that you can do right in your own community. Hazel Carroll is the Day-Chair for Centre and she can answer your questions. Why not call Hazel today at 336-674-2792 and tell her you want to volunteer? On Sunday, November 11, 2018, an associate member and a new F(f)riend were welcomed as active members of Centre Friends Meeting. The Right Hand of Fellowship was received by David Robinette, Jr., and Sarah Belperain. David is the son of Janice and David, Sr., and has attended Centre since birth. Sarah is his fiancée and a student currently working on her Master s Degree.
Page 6 2019 Annual Directory Preparation of Centre s 2019 Annual Directory has started. Amanda Hodgin serves on the PTO Box Tops for Education Committee at Pleasant Garden Elementary. She writes: Each Box Top collected earns 10 for the school to go toward learning materials... Centre has a collection basket for Box Tops in the Fellowship Hall Foyer and I encourage you to please bring your Box Tops to share with each of the participating schools attended by Centre s youth. Parents, please email amandahodgin@triad.rr.com if you want your child s school to be part of the Box Tops distribution. Please submit all reports and lists by Monday, December 10. Changes to addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses are needed by the 10th, also. are needed. College students mailing addresses You may also sign up for sharing flowers, providing a message for Children s Moments, and caring for children in the Nursery. These calendars are in the Fellowship Hall Foyer. Please email all items to secretary@centrefriends.org or place in the secretary s mailbox. The Centre Christmas Card Post Office will be open Sunday, December 2, through Sunday,. Christmas cards will be sorted and available to everyone on Sunday, December 23. While retrieving your cards, why not pick up and deliver cards addressed to a neighbor or shut-in? Centre Friends Meeting (336) 674-5081 church@centrefriends.org Sharon Hice, Treasurer centrefriendstreasurer@gmail.com Martha Jo C. Jones, Secretary secretary@centrefriends.org Meeting Website centrefriends.org Physical Address: 325 NC 62 East Greensboro NC 27406 Tommy Sluder, Interim Pastor (336) 580-0947 tommy@centrefriends.org David Robinette, Monthly Meeting Clerk dlrobinette@bellsouth.net Kay Coltrane, Ministry & Counsel Clerk coltranedairy@triad.rr.com Paul Routh, Sound/Technology paul.routh@juno.com Mailing Address: PO Box 632 Randleman NC 27317