The Ready Song by Jenny Dann from Shine on, Star of Bethlehem Lord make me ready to hear ready to see ready to receive your gift of love ready to do ready to go ready for all you're making ready for me Lord Make me ready to hear your story ready to see your glory ready to receive your gift of love-that's Jesus! ready to do what's right ready to go spread your light ready for all you're making ready for me Lord make me ready to hear that wonderful story ready to see you're the King of glory ready to receive your gift of love-hallelujah, that's Jesus! ready to do what you show me is right and ready to go spread the gospel light and ready for all you're making ready for me. We never tire of hearing the story of the birth of Christ, yet we are often impatient to get there, ignoring the importance of advent as we rush headlong to Christmas. Advent is an important time of preparation, a time of waiting, a time when we allow God to make us ready as individuals and as a faith community - to truly see God s glory, to receive God s love, to do what God would have us do, and to go spread the Gospel message of love and justice. This is my prayer for you this Season of Love, that you may be open to God s making you ready for the possibility of God doing something new in your life and in the life of this congregation, for that is truly the miracle of the Incarnation. Pastor Terri Blustery Fall Greetings to all! First and foremost, a big thank you to everyone who helped on the Fish Dinner and the Fall Clean-up. Both were very successful endeavors. Steve Popyk reported that we are well on our way to being a 5 for 5 Church again this year. The Christmas Fund is the only commitment we have not met and those envelopes should be out shortly. As always, St. Paul UCC shows its generosity. The gas bills are already on the rise. Be sure to turn the thermostats down when you leave every little bit will help. We are in need of liturgists, ushers and greeters throughout the holiday season and into 2011. The sign-up sheets are hanging on the orange bulletin board just outside of the sanctuary. The Memorial Dining Room is getting a new floor put in. Thanks to Women s Fellowship for spearheading this project. Construction on this project will be around all of the holiday activities that we will be having. 1
Speaking of that, don t forget that Lunch with Santa is coming up on Saturday, December 4. Invite family, friends and neighbors! It is a great afternoon of fun for young and old alike. Our youth are busy working on this year s Christmas Play. There will be a special rehearsal on Saturday, December 18. The actual play is scheduled during morning worship on Sunday, December 19. During the holiday season, you may want to call ahead to make sure someone will be at the church. Hours tend to change as we rush around between family and friends and a trip to a locked church is definitely not on most people s list! Don t forget that Christmas Eve Service will once again be held at 11:00pm. Finally, Consistory will be making a final decision on whether to commission Ken Gadd at the December 14 meeting. All are invited to share comments and ask questions before a vote is taken. The meeting will begin at 7pm. As always, this time of year brings added duties to all of us in both our personal and professional lives. It is important to remember to take a step back and enjoy the moments as they happen because they are both unique and fleeting. Happy Thanksgiving and a Blessed Advent Season to everyone. Peace, Brent Grawburg We held our Executive board meeting on November 2. We planned the calendar and the budget for next year. A few items were increased, so our budget for 2011 is $8300. We will have to work just a little bit harder to meet our budget. Diane and I met and picked out the tile for the Memorial Dining room. If every thing goes well it will be finished in time for Lunch w/santa. It is going to cost a little bit more than the original price due to the cost of the tile. The total job will be $6440. If anyone would like to donate money toward the floor just let Barbara Stephens know. The tickets are going well for the raffle, if you haven t turned yours in yet please do it as soon as you can. We are just few weeks away from Lunch w/santa and the raffle on Sunday. Circle 1 donated $50 to St. Mark s church toward a Thanksgiving Basket. They will be doing $400 baskets this year for those in need. They also do the Salvation Army s Bed and Bred every month. I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Healthy New Year. Yours in Christian Love, Sally Paczkowski, Secretary Thanks to all who contributed to the ACTIVE DUTY SOLDIER DRIVE St. Paul collected a box of needed items that will be delivered to a group that will pack and mail them. 2
Warm hats and mittens will have been delivered to keep some children and adults warm this winter thanks to all who gave and a very big thank you goes out once again to Marilyn Sickle for her very warm knitted hats; 100 of them. We will no longer collect used stamps. The group that did this has disbanded. I have enjoyed being your Chairwoman of OCWM and I wish continuing success to the work and giving to the local and World Wide Church. Peace and joy to all, Anne Pyciak Happy Birthday to all those born in December! 9. Carl Schroeder 14. Doris Mijal 20. Elsie Mistopolus 25. Marilyn Sickle 28. Sue Regier 29. Anne Pyciak 30. Audrey Blasky Walter Bailey St. Paul Prayer List Each month in the newsletter, we will print our prayer list. New additions will be added weekly in the church bulletin or lifted up during our community prayer time and emergency requests will continue to be called down the pray chain as they are received. The names on our HOME BOUND and CANCER lists will be ongoing. To continue on the list, please let Valerie in the church office know. Thank you. HOME BOUND (Church member shut-ins listed above) Sue Mercurio CANCER Barbara Delmoral Frank Malanaro Bob (Sally s paperboy) Christopher (tonsils) Richard Hanson PLEASE PRAY FOR Lou Wylie Phyllis Swartz Brandon Ebel Polly & Susan Powell Myrtle (hospice) Lynn & Tommy Glen McDevitt Pat, Mary & Harmonie Florence Lajcak Mary Popyk George 3
Doug Mattingly Laverne McCaffery Vi Reed Jerry Steve Polulak Future of St Paul The UCC The Warming Center The Good Samaritan Coalition The City of Detroit All U.S. Service Personnel Washington Decision makers Michigan s people & economy People who need a church home Safety for all people in the world Thank you for supplying food to our food pantry. We could use the following: Canned vegetables, fruit Paper Towels Ravioli Chunky Soups Soups-regular Toilet Paper Tuna Any type of microwaveable food items (non-frozen) since some people live in motels and have access to a microwave more so than a stove. Please give food that you would eat, any items that do not move will be sent to a local food pantry. Please do not bring in any items that contain milk as it expires way before it s taken. December Ushers: Greeters: Beth DeVlaminck 5- Sunday school children and youth 12-Sally Paczkowski 19- Herman & Betty Wolgast 24-26-Eleanor Veramay, Kathy Hefley 4
There are a lot of empty spots for liturgists, ushers and greeters! WELL DONE GOOD AND FAITHFUL FRIENDS!!!!! Another Fish Dinner has come and gone and again it all came together without a hitch. Everyone did their assigned job and some pitched in and did a new job which is what it is all about. No job is forever and we all should learn new SKILLS. New faces are always welcome and of course appreciated. There is enough work to go around and then some. We served 251 adults and 5 children in the dining room and we had 51 carry-out dinners. Weather was good and so were we. Check the bulletin board for a financial report. We work well together and maybe we should rethink the Spring Fish event. Let s hear from you and we can try something else. Thanks again for all the help and encouragement. SUE MALAWI MOMENT First, in the spirit of the holiday season, the good news: Because of a contribution from a congregation member, we have been able to wire a small amount of money to the Malawi mission. Also, we will be sending out at least two more joy boxes soon, although it is unlikely they will arrive before Christmas. Still, they will be welcomed by the recipients no matter when they arrive. Now the bad news. The amount of money wired will only feed a few children for at most a day or two, and the mission is out of money for food. They ask us to keep them in prayer, and I hope that you will. Also, as we begin the hectic rush of holiday preparation, please be generous and remember that it is always possible for us to send funds to the mission, funds that are badly needed, especially for food. May your Christmas be blessed and the New Year joyous, and may you always remember those less fortunate than we are. Gail Popyk NEW ADDRESS BOOKS 2011 address books are available and ready for pick up. They will be located on the black counter in the educational wing. If you are unable to come and pick one up please ask a friend to come and get one for you as postage will be quite high to mail one out. CHRISTMAS FUND 2010 Dear St. Paul s Members and Friends, Our joy at Christmas is a response to God s promise of new life through the birth of Jesus. It is a joy we are called to share widely, through our witness and gifts, both to loved ones and distant neighbors. 5
The Christmas Fund offering (formerly the Christmas Fund for the Veterans of the Cross), one of four Special Mission Offerings of the United Church of Christ (UCC), is an important way of sharing our joy at God s renewing and life-giving grace. The Offering, which is administered by the United Church Board for Ministerial Assistance of the Pension Boards on behalf of the UCC, is an expression of joy and gratitude to, and for, those who serve the church. Gifts to the Christmas Fund help provide pension and health premium supplementation to lowincome retirees, emergency assistance to the families of clergy and lay employees and Christmas Gift Checks to hundreds of annuitants. Your gifts are needed more than ever to help the growing number of retirees whose low income annuities make it difficult to meet increasing living costs. This is your opportunity to participate in God s promise of renewal by enabling this ministry of compassion and care. We will be collecting this special offering on Sunday, December 26, 2010. Yours in Christ, Stewardship Committee We are sincerely grateful to those who offered prayers, sent cards and attended Joseph Radke s memorial service. Your expression of sympathy will always be remembered. Family of Joseph Radke Thank you for your prayers, your compassion, and your understanding as I continue upon a difficult journey with my mom and our family. The weeks I was able to spend at home were as much a gift to me as they were to my mother and to my brothers and sister-in-law. Knowing that you were here supporting me, lifted my spirits in more ways than you will ever know. Pastor Terri For some, the holidays are difficult to manage. Stress, depression, grief can be deep during a time that seems for everyone to be jolly. Do you need some quiet space? A healing space? Time for prayer, for support, for comfort? An hour to just be? Then join us for quiet reflection, prayer and meditation at our Blue Christmas/Longest Night service on Tuesday, Dec 21 st. We will gather in the sanctuary for a candlelight service at 4PM and then enjoy a light supper together in the fireside room afterward. We ll have you home in time for the 6:00 news! Please invite a friend if you think of someone for whom a service of this kind might be meaningful. 6
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