2018, Issue 9 West Richmond Church of the Brethren NOVEMBER Celebrating Harvest Home Harvest Home is an English tradition, which began in the mid-1500s recognizing the end of the growing season and an opportunity to give thanks for God s provision. In years past, West Richmond had shared their thanks by joining the Skipwith Area Churches for a combined Community Thanksgiving Service. With waning interest in this yearly service, the Church Board decided to recognize God s blessings during our Sunday morning worship service and follow with a meal. Please join us on Sunday, November 18 for this special occasion by your presence in worship and dinner, and by sharing a covered dish. Come ye thankful people come. Raise the song of harvest home. After the Covered Dish on November 18, we will come together for a Congregational Business Meeting. Won t you join us as we celebrate the many ways in which God has been at work in and through us this year and will guide us as we look toward the coming year with 2019 s budget approval. My Whit s End 2 In Our Congregation 3 Calendar & Schedules 4-5 With the Community 6 Around the District 7 Children s Church 8
P age 2 T h e H er a ld And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10.16 NIV) T he Church of the Brethren believes that children born into the congregation belong to Jesus. Brethren also believe that the family of God carry responsibility in providing a nurturing atmosphere for a child. In other words, children belong not only to their family but also to God, and in some way, to the family of faith. They are a part of who we are as a church family. It is in the life of the community of faith where adults other than their parents and grandparents mentor children. Children are a gift from God. God has given us children for a time, to be cared for, to love, and to nurture. We are to raise them in the way they should go and when they are old they will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6) S ince Brethren believe that children belong to God, we do not baptize infants. We believe the choice to be baptized follows a personal decision and a confession of faith which infants are too young to make. We save baptism for a later time when they have come to believe and voluntarily choose Christ as Lord and Savior. Alexander Mack, leader of the Brethren in the early 1700s recommended that, Children are to be presented to the Lord Jesus in prayer. Instead of baptizing children, we consecrate them before God. In a dedication service, we do three things; We dedicate the child to God. We dedicate the parents to God, and we dedicate the family of faith to God and to the parents. T he service of consecration of children and their parents bring together words, music, scripture, vows, and prayers as the community of faith respond to God in joy, devotion, and commitment. If there are children in our congregation who have not been dedicated, I would encourage parents to consider this a meaningful and important step in spiritual life. Be encouraged, What Do You Tell Yourself Every Morning as You Start the Day? Jacob would say, "I won t let go of You unless You bless me." Each month we will have a new statement of faith in the newsletter. Meditate on it! Speak it every morning.
Page 3 In Our Congregation T h e H er a ld For the past few years, the Nurture Commission has asked Carol Goss to create the Nursery and Fellowship Time schedules. These jobs require your time and effort so she wants to be as accommodating as possible. Carol asks do you have specific dates you'd like to serve or dates to avoid? Singles, do you have someone with whom you'd like to work? Do you have a specific need such as pairing with someone more active? The 2019 schedules will be composed this month. Please notify her of special requests by the 20 th of this month. Once the lists are completed, it will be your responsibility to switch dates. As with many other tasks we do, these jobs are beneficial to the life of our church. Fellowship hour provides a time for gathering with our "distant" neighbors, greeting visitors and interacting with people of various ages. Nursery is a welcoming accommodation for families and a way to nurture our youngest members. A few more notes: (1) Please be in the Nursery by 10:45; (2) Fellowship provisions can be as minimal or as expansive as you like; (3) Last year an individual's standard number of service dates were 4 -- we hope to keep it from increasing by continuing to share these responsibilities. Thank you for your generous service. Carol Goss West Richmond Church of the Brethren 7612 Wanymala Road, Henrico, Virginia 23229-4239 Phone: 804-288-6439 Fax: 804-282-4408 www.wrcob.org wrcob@wrcob.org Pastor... David Whitten (319-610-2274) Administrative Assistant... Barbara Beers (804-338-3482) Sunday School... 9:45 a.m. Sunday Worship...11:00 a.m. Church office (M-F)... 9:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. If no one is in the office or the line is busy, voice mail will pick up so PLEASE leave us a message. Items for the bulletin s weekly newssheet MUST be submitted by noon each Thursday to the church office. All articles for the Winter edition of The Herald are due in the office by Thursday, November 15, 2018.
4 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday BTW (By the Way) 2019= Daylight Savings Time Ends 9:45 am Sunday School 11:00 am Worship 11 8:00 am Men s Breakfast 9:45 am Sunday School 11:00 am Worship 5 4:30 pm Group Violin Class 12 4:30 pm Group Violin Class 7:00 pm Church Board 6 Henrico Schools Closed 10:30 am Ladies Circle 5:30 pm Hull Street Ministry 6:15 pm Cub Scouts #728 6:30 pm Boy Scouts #728 13 10:30 am Ladies Circle 6:15 pm Cub Scouts #728 6:30 pm Boy Scouts #728 7 4:00 pm Girl Scouts #726 14 1 6:30 pm Handbells 7:45 pm Choir 8 6:30 pm Handbells 7:45 pm Choir 15 6:30 pm Handbells 7:45 pm Choir 2 3 9 District Conference 5 pm Registration 7 pm Worship 7:00 pm Scouts begin stew prep 10 Noon-8 pm Gathering Room in use 4-5 pm 16 17 pick-up time! 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 4:30 pm Group Violin Class 10:30 am Ladies Circle 1:00 pm Volunteer 4:00 pm Girl Scouts #726 9:45 am Sunday School 11:00 am Worship Harvest Home 12:15 pm Covered Dish 1:00 pm Congregational Business Meeting 25 LAMB s Basket Collection 8:00 am Men s Breakfast 9:45 am Sunday School 26 4:30 pm Group Violin Class 6:15 pm Cub Scouts #728 6:30 pm Boy Scouts #728 27 10:30 am Ladies Circle 6:15 pm Cub Scouts #728 6:30 pm Boy Scouts #728 28 Church Offices Closed 29 30 6:30 pm Handbells 7:45 pm Choir Ladies Nite Out will be held on December 3 rd in Betty Altic s home.
Who s celebrating and Who s Doing What in 2... Wyllys Vanderhoff 4... Sean Solanky 6... Virginia Vassar 7... Cameron Sabel 9... David Layman 11... Zara Fields (1 st ) Flora Vassar (30 th ) Karl & Jan Hoff 12... Zack Hurst Annie Lipato 14... Sue (Mullins) Aigner 15... Sophie Saunders 16... Denise Diamond Donald Lum 17... Brett Mitchell 18... Betty Meyer 19... Campbell Mitchell Fred & Paula (Crawford) Bryant (35 th ) 20... Bob Gangwer Donnie Holsinger 21... Mary Young Adam Clark 22... Kevin & Barbara Beers 23... Jennifer McCloud Patrick & Pamela McCloud 24...Tina (Lowe) Brockman (30 th ) Comfort Frimpon Chelsea Goss Zherina Whitten 25...Greg & Gayle (Wampler) Adams 26...Carol (Walbridge) Goss 28...Rebecca Wilson 29...Janet Brunk Lauren Gangwer Colleen Wampler 30...Fern Damour November 4 11 18 15 Greeters Dolly Guyer Betty Altic Paula Bryant Betty Altic Worship Leaders Susan Robertson Sandi Davis Sandy Faw Alyce Newman Nursery Care Fellowship Hosts Tellers Carolyn Arthur & Terrie Glass Bob & Pat Gangwer Betty Altic & Sandi Davis David & Judy McCloud Ken & Ginny Heatwole Jeff Goss & Alyce Newman Charles & Belinda Layman Harvest Home Covered Dish Joel Guyer & Larry McCann June Diehl & Faye Urban Susan Robertson Bob & Pat Gangwer Want to be included in any of these activities? Please contact its coordinator. If you cannot fulfill an assigned date, please swap with someone and then contact the church office.
P age 6 With Our Community T h e H er a ld The days are getting shorter. The air is getting cooler. And there soon be Christmas carols playing at the mall. Christmas is right around the corner! It will soon be time to bundle up, embrace the cold weather, and celebrate the birth of our Savior with family and friends. But there are individuals and families in our Richmond community who may not find it as easy to stay warm this winter as we do. For those neighbors, Witness needs your help to decorate the tree that will soon be in the gathering room with scarves, hats, gloves, and mittens. They can be handmade or bought, as long as they are new, warm and durable so that some CARITAS clients will be a little warmer this winter. If you have questions or comments, please contact June Diehl Hull Street Ministry the 1 st Tuesday of each month, November 6, you can prepare meals or help serve; see Barbara McCann or Susan Robertson. The Community Kitchen the 3 rd Tuesday of each month, November 20, various tasks are completed men and women are encouraged to try it out; see Betty Altic or Judy McCloud. LAMB s Basket on the last Tuesday of the month, November 27, we empty the shopping cart by the front doors, all types of canned goods and nonperishables can be donated daily, as well as money to purchase fresh eggs; see Sandi Davis.
Page 7 Around Our District DISASTER OFFERING FOR HURRICANE RELIEF T h e H er a ld As of October 23, 2018 we have received $9,402.50 from nineteen congregations, nineteen households and the Southern Area Women's Fellowship. We will continue to receive offerings from our congregations to underwrite various efforts in response to the hurricanes that have devastated various parts of the United States and our local area. Please send your congregation s check to us (Virlina District Resource Center 3402 Plantation Road, NE, Roanoke, VA 24012) with the following inscription on the memo line: Hurricanes Florence/Michael Offering Account #33508. VIRGINIA COUNCIL OF CHURCHES ANNUAL ASSEMBLY As seen in E-Headliner The 2018 Annual Assembly of the Virginia Council of Churches will be held on Wednesday, November 7, at the Saint Michael Catholic Church, 4491 Springfield Road, Glen Allen, VA 23060. Registration will begin at 9:00 a.m. and the events of the day begin at 10:00 a.m. The cost, including meal, is $30.00. The Virginia Council of Churches is a community of Christian communions, which, in response to the Gospel, as revealed in the Scriptures, confess Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word of God, as Savior and Lord. Members of the council covenant with one another to manifest ever more fully the unity of the Church. Relying upon the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we gather in common mission, serving in all creation to the glory of God and our neighbor's good. David K. Shumate and Edward C. Woodard represent the Virlina District of the Church of the Brethren on the Steering Committee and Coordinating Cabinet of this organization. ROUNDTABLE RETREAT Save March 1-3, 2019 for the annual Roundtable Senior High Youth Retreat at Bridgewater College! Join other senior high youth from neighboring districts for this fun and Spirit-filled retreat lead by the Interdistrict Youth Cabinet and a yetto-be-announced speaker. As soon as we have information, we will pass it on. Stay up to date by following IYC on Facebook and their website: @InterdistrictYouthCabinet and http://iycroundtable.wixsite.com/iycbc. FAITHQUEST SENIOR HIGH RETREAT The FaithQuest Senior High Retreat will be held on March 15-17, 2019. Senior High Youth are invited and encouraged to attend FaithQuest a retreat held every two years at Camp Bethel. You might be wondering What is FaithQuest? FaithQuest offers senior high youth an opportunity to explore their relationship with God while considering different spiritual practices, which symbols are sacred to us, and how to live in community with each other as Christians. Our FaithQuest leaders this year include: Hannah Oakes (Summerdean), Mike Elmore (Roanoke, Oak Grove), Sam St. John (Roanoke, Ninth Street), Amber Harris (Fraternity), Tabby Patterson (Roanoke, First), John Reed, Sr. (Cloverdale), Patrick Sims (Topeco), Harmony Johnson (Copper Hill), Amy Beery (Bethany Theological Seminary), Christa Craighead (Monte Vista) and Carol Elmore (Roanoke, Oak Grove). Check-in begins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening. The retreat ends at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday. It will be at Camp Bethel in Heritage Lodge. Other details will be shared once there is a flyer and registration form ready. The estimated cost is $125 per youth.
West Richmond Church of the Brethren 7612 Wanymala Road, Henrico, VA 23229-4239 Phone: 804-288-6439 www.wrcob.org Fax: 804-282-4408 wrcob@wrcob.org Place postage stamp here! ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED returns in December! Janet Brunk is bringing it back! Look for more information in the Winter edition of The Herald!