F i r s t P r e s b y t e r i a n C h u r c h S a n L e a n d r o HIGHLIGHTS VOLUME 17, ISSUE 10 NOVEMBER 2016 WELCOME NEW MEMBERS A warm welcome to all those who joined the church during the month of September! Below is a list of their names, addresses and phone numbers, for you to add to your church directory. And we are adding their photos to the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall, so that we may all become better acquainted! Burt & Marie Busk Cindy Eichelberger Jon & Sylvia Humphreys John Manuel William Nelson Joan Marie Reed Sylvia Smith, Art & Pat Walton LOOKING AHEAD TO 2017 During our coffee fellowship on October 30 th, we will celebrate another wonderful year of ministry and fellowship here at First Pres and look ahead to plans for 2017. Landon Clark, our Stewardship elder, will be making a brief presentation in the Fellowship Hall following worship, and then we will all enjoy root beer floats! Landon will be reviewing the programs that our church budget has supported this year, and taking a look at our continued ministries in the year to come. You won't be asked to make a pledge at this time, just to take your packet home with you and begin praying about God's call to you to be a faithful steward. What is a steward? A Christian steward is one who manages the affairs of God on earth, and that includes each one of us! We have been given unique abilities and talents, and we are called to use them to serve God. You will be asked to return your pledge to the church on Sunday, November 13. We will have a special time of dedication in our worship service that morning. We look with anticipation to the great things that this church will be doing in the year 2017.
Young at Heart All those who are seniors and young at heart are invited to a delicious luncheon at 11:30 am on Thursday, November 15. A delicious menu is planned, including turkey and all the fixings! Following lunch, we have a very special program on Antiques: Collecting and Selling with Allen Michaan of Michaan s Auction House. Please sign up for the luncheon on Sunday morning, or call the church office so we will know how many to expect. Thank you. Officer Training There will be Officer Training for all deacons and elders (both new and continuing) on Sunday, November 6 th, 1:30 4:00 pm. This is very important and all new officers and continuing officers are urged to attend. Upcoming Retreats at Westminster Woods Some great retreats are planned at Westminster Woods these coming months, so check them out on their website (www.westminsterwoods.org) and plan to go for a great time! November 4-6, 2016: NovemberBash, for middle school youth in grades 6-8. December 9-11, 2016: DecemberFest, for high school youth in grades 9-12. February 10-12, 2017: Forest Adventure, for students in grades 4-6. Also planned are two wonderful weekends for adults: Women s Retreat, January 20-22, 2017 Men s Retreat, February 17-19, 2017 April Showers Thanksgiving Dinner Again this year, the April Showers program will be hosting a dinner on Thanksgiving Day at the First United Methodist Church in San Leandro. If you would like to help out, please contact Noel Moritz at 510-689-8808. You may support this outreach to our homeless guests by giving needed items in advance of Thanksgiving Day, or by helping with set-up or serving at the dinner itself. Page 2 HIGHLIGHTS
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 30 10:30 AM Coffee, Root Beer Floats & Stewardship Presentation 11:15 AM Sunday School 31 NO Adult Education 1 7:30 PM Christian Ed, Evangelism, Group Life, Church in the World, Pastoral Care 2 3 4 5 7:30 AM Men's Breakfast & Women's Fellowship 6 DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME ENDS 7 8 9 10 11 12 9:00 AM Chancel Choir Workshop NOTE START TIME 1:00 PM Women's Bible 10:30 AM Coffee/Donuts 11:00 AM Sunday School 12:30 PM Prayer Shawl Ministry 6:45 PM Adult Education 13 14 10:30 AM Coffee & Alternative Gift Fair 11:15 AM Sunday School 7:00 PM Adult Education 15 7:30 PM Session Meeting 16 17 11:30 AM Young at Heart 18 19 20 10:30 AM Coffee/Donuts 11:00 AM Sunday School 21 22 23 24 25 26 9:00 AM Wreath Making 7:00 PM Adult Education NO Deacons Meeting NO WOW OR PEAK Day after Thanksgiving 11:30 AM Book Club Lunch 27 First Sunday of Advent 10:30 AM Coffee 11:00 AM Sunday School 28 7:00 PM Adult Education 29 30 1 2 3 7:30 AM Men's Breakfast & Women's Fellowship 5:00 PM Advent Celebration
Project Angel Tree Again this year our church family will be participating in a ministry of Prison Fellowship called Angel Tree. This project provides Christmas gifts for the children of prisoners. Through information provided by the parent in prison, members of our church family may shop for a child whose wishes are conveyed on a paper angel. You may pick up a paper angel from Val Watts on Sunday, November 27 th, December 4 th, or December 11 th. Then complete your shopping prior to December 18 th and bring your wrapped gift on that day to the church library. If you prefer, you may make a donation to help pay for the food or the children s Bible which will be included in the family gift basket. Also, you may volunteer to help by baking goodies and assembling the baskets on Saturday, December 17 th. And we will need volunteers to deliver the gifts on Sunday, December 18 th. Be sure to see Val ahead of time if you are willing to help bake or deliver gifts. Please Pray for Missionaries Our Church Supports As a part of our mission giving this year, First Pres San Leandro is continuing their support of our Mission Co-worker serving in India. (Because she works in a region with high security concerns, we cannot post further information about her/her work in this publication, but you will see updates about her work on our bulletin board from time to time. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.) Also this year we began mission support for Kathy and Bill Bisset, who are serving with the Bible Training Centre for Pastors (BTCP) in Kenya. Kathy and Bill met in Nairobi and served there for 11 years, first with Africa Inland Mission, and then with BTCP. After 13 years in Uganda, they moved to Malindi, Kenya (on the coast) and continue to train local pastors there, teaching the Bible and preaching the Word. Please keep Kathy and Bill in your prayers. We hope that Bill and Kathy, along with our Mission Co-worker in India, may be able to visit our church in 2017, so that we may become more personally acquainted with them. Meanwhile, we pray that Christ s work will be done in mighty ways through these faithful servants. Volume 17, Issue 710 Page 4 OVER
Alternative Gift Fair Sunday, November 13 The Church in the World Committee is pleased to present, once again, our annual Holiday Alternative Gift Fair. Come and enjoy looking for something different -- to make a difference! There will be tables for East Bay Habitat for Humanity and Heifer Project, where you may give a donation in honor of a friend or relative. You will receive a colorful card to announce your gift and more information about the work of these organizations. There will also be unusual handmade items from around the world, places like Indonesia, El Salvador, Nepal, India, Kenya, Peru, Ghana, Vietnam, Philippines, Ecuador, Palestine and Bethlehem! These items are provided by SERRV and Pal Craftaid. Also there will be wonderful edible gifts, courtesy of Equal Exchange and SERRV, which also come from a variety of countries. All of these organizations are committed to Fair Trade, helping artisans and farmers build a better future for themselves and their families, in parts of the world where this is difficult. Plan to come and enjoy a little shopping during coffee fellowship at 10:30 am, knowing that your purchases do make a difference! Another Way You Can Support the Church We have recently been added to the Amazon Smile program. When you shop on Amazon via the Smile site (smile.amazon.com) 0.5% of the price of eligible purchases are donated to the church! It's very easy to set up your Amazon account to benefit the church: Click this link to go to your Amazon Smile settings page: https://smile.amazon.com/ Step 1. Below the text "Or pick your own charitable organization" type "First Presbyterian Church of San Leandro" and click the SEARCH button. Step 2. On the next page, click the SELECT button next to "First Presbyterian Church of San Leandro". Feel free to share this with Friends & Family - it costs shoppers nothing to help support the church. Create Your Own Christmas Wreath On Saturday, November 26 th, you are invited to decorate a wreath for your home for Christmas! We will work on our wreaths in the church fellowship hall from 9:00 11:00 am. Wreaths must be ordered and paid for ahead of time cost is $10 each. You may reserve your wreath on Sunday morning, November 13 th or 20 th. Suzanne and Don Yee will be purchasing the wreaths ahead of time, and everyone is encouraged to bring anything you would like to include on your wreath, including pine cones, pods, acorns, eucalyptus leaves, juniper, cedar, holly/ berries, rosemary, thyme, moss, etc. Also bring along any ribbons and/or ornaments you wish to attach to your wreath. And you will need to bring some thin or medium gauge wire; glue guns will be available here at the church. Extra greenery can be used to make centerpieces, so bring along a pillar candle or floral foam if you wish to create a Christmas centerpiece. Please see Suzanne Yee for further information. V OLU ME 1 7, ISS UE 10 Page 5
FIRSTPRESBYTERIAN CH URCH 180 Estudillo Avenue San Leandro, CA 94577 NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S.POSTAGE PAID SAN LEANDRO, CA PERMIT NO. 84 510-483-2772 RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Book Club On Saturday, November 26 th, the Book Club will be meet at 11:30 am in the Fellowship Hall for a soup lunch and discussion of the book, The Light Between Oceans, by M. L. Stedman. For more information, please see Jeanette Rauscher. Everyone is welcome! Advent Celebration Our annual Advent Celebration will be on Saturday, December 3 rd, 5:00 7:30 pm. Come at 5:00 to make various crafts, and bring finger foods to share small sandwiches, appetizers, and desserts. We ll be taking a break midway through crafts to go into the Fireside Room to hear the story of Jesus birth, and to sing Christmas carols. Then we ll return to the Fellowship Hall to complete more crafts. This is a great way to begin your preparation for Jesus birth please join us, and bring a friend! Children s Christmas Musical The children will be presenting a Christmas musical called Miracle at the Christmas Cafe on Sunday, December 11 th at 11:00 a.m. in Fellowship Hall. Mark your calendars now you won t want to miss this special presentation. (There will be no Sunday School classes on that day.)