THE TOWER September/October 2017 Edition Sunday Worship September 10: (10am) Gathering Sunday Holy Communion September 17: Church School begins Sermon: Woman at the Well September 24: Sermon: Jonah and the Whale October 1: Holy Communion Neighbors in Need offering Sermon: Jericho October 8 New Sermon Series: 500th Anniversary of the Reformation October 15: Holy Baptism October 22: Joining Sunday October 29: Reformation Sunday Falling Back In The mornings are getting cooler here in Exeter. Students have just started back to school, and Labor Day weekend is coming soon. Every year our church shifts into fall mode as well. After a summer of 9am worship services, we move back to 10am. The choir returns, church school starts up again, and a full schedule of activities returns. Gathering Sunday is just around the corner and people throughout the church are hard at work, planning and creating. In this newsletter you will find information about our fall activities at the church for the next two months. The yearly reminders about church school and musical ministries are all here, but there are some new programs being introduced as well. Please take the time to discover the opportunities available for your whole family this fall, and to discern your own interests. I m looking forward to falling back into our routine at church, and I m excited about the new things that God is doing too. I ll see you in church soon! Grace and peace, Pastor Emily 1
The Congregational Church in Exeter 21 Front Street Exeter, NH 03833 Office: 12 Center Street Open Tuesday-Friday, 8:30-2:30 Become a Member What does it mean to be a member of the Congregational Church in Exeter? Do you have to be a member to come to church here? If I become a member, do I have to pay? These are all common questions. Here s what church membership does, and doesn t mean: You do not have to be a member of this church to be an active participant. Everyone is welcome! Non-members, however, cannot vote in church meetings, and are not allowed to serve on church council, deacons, or trustees. Other committees are open to all. Church membership is open to all baptized adults, as well as to baptized youth who have been confirmed. If you have not been baptized, but would like to join the church, please talk to Pastor Emily about how to be baptized. Joining the church means committing to being involved in the life and worship of this congregation. There is no fee, though we do ask all members to consider how they might help to financially support the church, as they are able. Are you interested in joining? If so, please let Pastor Emily know. The next Joining Sunday will be October 22nd! (603) 772-4216 www.exeterucc.org Called to Serve There are so many ways to get involved in the life of the church, and we need volunteers to help these ministries to thrive. The following ministries require volunteers to sign-up through the church office. How are you being called to serve this year? Ushers: Serve in worship about once a month. Greet people, hand out bulletins, and take up the collection. Welcomers: Volunteer for a Sunday at the Welcoming Table in the vestry. Welcome visitors, tell them more about the church, and make them feel at home. Coffee Hour: Sign up for as many or as few Sundays as you would like. Hosts make coffee, bring refreshments, and provide hospitality. Childcare: Two people serve in the nursery every Sunday, caring for toddlers and infants during worship. Lay Visitors: Provide care and compassion to those who are recovering from illness, homebound, or in times of transition. Youth Group Volunteers: Attend middle school or high school youth group (or both!) about once a month and help the youth director to run the meeting, and chaperone our youth. Flowers: Arrangements for Sunday worship may be donated in honor or memory or someone, or in celebration of a special event. Interested in any of these? Please contact Nicole St. Cyr at the church office to sign up for upcoming volunteer slots. Thank you for your generous service to the church! 2
Music Ministries From Kim Karchenes, music director: Welcome to fall! The summer flew by and I have already chosen music for fall. We have Bill Sawyer singing a solo for us at the end of September and by special request Craig Fowler and his electric bass will return and play This Little Light of Mine sometime in October. We have a guest flutist playing with choir on Reformation Sunday the last week of October and I am hoping to have Ruth George, soprano sing for us again. We will also have a Contra Dance with Dudley Laufman coming back for a special event on October 7th. Fall is also a great time to join one of our choirs: Senior Choir, our adult choir, meets each Thursday evening from 7-8:30. We also rehearse at 9 a.m. on Sunday mornings. If you can commit to most (not all!) Thursdays and/or Sundays, please give us a try. We are a friendly group and enjoy lots of fellowship with one another as we share music that feeds our souls. Heritage Bell Ringers also meet on Thursday evenings from 5:45 and we go to almost 7. We are in need of ringers, and new folks are welcome. It isn t hard to learn! Joyful Spirit meets the last Sunday of each month. We sing pieces that are more contemporary. New members are always welcome. You can talk to me in church or email me at: kkarchenes@exeterucc.org See you in church. Kim Rainbow and Junior Ringers Would your children or youth like to participate in one of our two choirs for our younger handbell ringers? Rainbow Ringers is open to 1st through 5th graders, and Junior Ringers to Middle Schoolers. Practice times will be determined based on the scheduled of interested students. Please email Alison Hobbie at ahobbie@exeter.edu if your student is interested. Fellowship Groups Friday Family Fellowship: Join other families with children and youth, age 18 and younger, on the second Friday of each month at 5:30pm. We meet in the vestry and dinner is provided by the church. Come for a relaxed time of fellowship. TOGs: All women are invited to the Exeter Inn on the second Monday of each month at 9am for breakfast and fellowship. ROMEOs: All men are invited to gather on the second Thursdays of the month at 9am at the Exeter Inn for breakfast and conversation. Shawl Knitters: We gather together to knit prayer shawls for those who are sick, or who need comfort. They meet each third Wednesday at 10am in the vestry. All are welcome. 3
Mission and Action CROP Walk On Sunday, October 15th the Crop Walk is back. We hope many walkers and donors will join us. Crop Walk Participants raise funds to fight hunger locally and globally and then walk together for three miles or less. You are welcome to participate fully or to support this effort without walking. Food and fun will abound in Swasey Parkway following the walk. More details will be coming soon, and we hope you join us and other participants from many towns and service organizations throughout the Seacoast Area. Without you this would be a lot of work for a small number. With your help it makes it easy to serve 30-50 or more a really wonderful home cooked meal. Neighbors in Need Over the course of the year we take up several special offerings for the United Church of Christ. The Neighbors in Need collection goes to support justice and compassion ministries across the country, as well as the UCC s Council for American Indian Ministries. This year the offering will be collected on Sunday, October 1st. Please give generously and help us to love our neighbors near and wide. Salvation Army Mission and Action would like to thank the congregation for their generosity and help in serving at the Salvation Army Dinners. Thank you to so many who have helped us to continue to serve delicious and warming meals to the people at the Salvation Army in Portsmouth. So many of you have cooked food, bought food, delivered food, helped to serve food and clean. Seacoast Family Promise Along with other local congregations, our church works together to serve a meal and provide overnight hospitality to families staying with Seacoast Family Promise. We serve monthly at Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Brentwood. If you are interested in joining the team, please contact Steve Wood at sawpaw@comcast.net. 4
Ukama Update Sue Heppenstall, co-founder of the nonprofit A Light for Zimbabwe, spoke to us on May 7th after worship about the work in education, healthcare, and rural development ALZ does in the Pfidza area. She shared some fascinating stories and photos of what life is like there. She is in close contact with many of our friends at our partnered church, Pfidza, and is always willing to act as a courier for penpals! (If you would like to be a penpal, please let me know). The Mission & Action committee recently raised $400 through a sale of native shrubs that will be used for food security at Pfidza. The funds traveled to Zimbabwe with a NHC delegation on June 8. We have heard that it will be a good harvest in Zimbabwe this year, so that is always good news for our brothers and sisters at Pfidza Church. The Building Committee chair of Pfidza, F.B. Sigauke, and Treasurer Mrs. Mavis Mwadira recently wrote us to convey their appreciation for the Christmas offering donation, which will assist them in church construction, and allow them to start cracking again. Working Group on Refugees and Immigrants This spring an informal group began meeting to discuss ways we can become more involved in refugee and immigration issues in New Hampshire. Can we sponsor a refugee family? How can we help refugees already here? What do undocumented immigrants need now? What does it mean to be a sanctuary church and should we become one? These are some of the questions we have been exploring, and we have learned that the answers are complex. We have met with an experienced immigration law professor, who explained the legal landscape for refugees and undocumented immigrants. And we have met with representatives from the International Institute of New England, which is the refugee resettlement agency working in New Hampshire. The IINE representatives explained the work of their agency, the needs of refugees, and told us about the variety of volunteer opportunities to become engaged with refugees in, and coming to, New Hampshire. More than 20 people have attended at least one meeting or expressed an interest in this working group. Please consider joining us! Watch for notices of meetings and other information in the bulletin and newsletters. We are considering a mission trip to Zimbabwe and Pfidza for next summer, when we may help them with church construction. If anyone is interested in this, please contact Erik Hobbie (erik.hobbie@unh.edu). It would be a once-in-alifetime chance to join in fellowship with Pfidza Church members and to be welcomed into their community like long-lost brothers and sisters. Fambai zvakanaka (be happy!) - Erik Hobbie 5
Christian Growth Middle School Church School Middle School church school continues this fall in the youth room. Students will meet during worship on every Sunday of the month, except for the first. This year students will continue to explore the big questions of faith, developing their own understandings of God and church, and will prepare for Confirmation classes next year. Teachers Needed We are always in need of more church school teachers. This is not an every week commitment. Teachers typically only teach a few times a year, and always in teams. Teachers must pass a standard background check. If you are interested in learning more, please speak to Allan Mayo about elementary church school or Pastor Emily about middle school. Youth Groups Elementary Church School The start of church school is just around the corner. Parents of pre-k and elementary-aged children are invited to register their students for their class, and tour the classrooms, on September 10th after worship. Church school will begin on September 17th during worship. This fall both youth groups will resume on Sunday, September 17th. Middle School youth group will meet on Sundays from 4-5:30pm in the youth room. High School youth group will follow from 6-7pm. David Hayes is returning as our youth director, and this year we have plans for service trips, fellowship events, and more. Come join us, and bring a friend! This year our students will continue their SPARK rotation, learning Bible stories through the lens of art, drama, cooking, science, and more. This fall they will explore the stories of the Woman at the Well, the Battle of Jericho, the House Built on the Rock, and Advent. We can t wait to welcome your child back for another year of fun and learning. 6
Adult Faith Formation Mid-Week Bible Study Do you ever wish you knew more about the Bible? Do you find it a bit intimidating? Do you wonder what it really means? Do you ever want to talk about the Scripture from the Sunday sermons? Join us this fall on Wednesday nights at 6pm in the vestry. Each week, led by Pastor Emily, we will read and discuss the Scripture for the coming Sunday, and find how it relates to our lives today. You do not need to read anything in advance, and you do not need to attend every week. Simply join us at 6pm, and participate by listening and sharing, as you feel led. The first meeting of this new Bible study will take place on Wednesday, October 4th. Adult Confirmation Classes Last spring, after our latest class of youth was confirmed, several adults wondered whether there was a similar class that they might participate in. While adults are not confirmed in our tradition, there are ways to reaffirm our baptisms (or to be baptized, if you have not already been). Pastor Emily is gathering interest in an adult confirmation class right now. If you would like to participate in a series of classes similar to what confirmation students take, please let us know by emailing Pastor Emily at eheath@exeterucc.org. Once we have enough interested students, we will set a class time. This is a great option for anyone thinking about baptism, reassessing their faith, or hoping to make a new faith commitment. Women s Bible Study What do you know about women in the Bible? Are you curious? Come join in the study, discussion and reflection on familiar and less known followers of Jesus who happened to be women. The basic guide book for our study was written by Dr. Dale Lindsey Morgan of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Arrive at 10 o'clock to enjoy refreshments, conversation and a time of prayer. We meet in the conference room from 10-12 am on the second and fourth Wednesday of each month during the school year. Often conversation extends with a lunch bunch! Questions? Please call Sue Bowman at 772-2306. One Town, One Book Back for a third year, this fall One Town, One Book will focus on poverty. We will be reading $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America by Kathryn Edin and Luke Shaefer. Kick-off will take place on Tuesday, October 3rd at 7pm at Water Street Books with small group discussions to follow, as well as a visit from the author. This is a joint endeavor of our congregation, Christ Church, First UU Society, Exeter Public Library, and Water Street Books. 7
September Calendar Sunday, September 3 9:00am Summer Worship Thursday, September 7 5:45pm Handbell Rehearsal 7:00pm Choir Rehearsal Friday, September 8 11:00am Staff Meeting 5:30pm Friday Family Fellowship Dinner Sunday, September 10-Gathering Sunday 10:00am Worship Monday, September 11 9:00am TOGS Tuesday, September 12 7:00pm Mission and Action Wednesday, September 13 10:00am Women's Bible Study 7:00pm Deacons Thursday, September 14 9:00am ROMEOs 5:45pm Handbell Rehearsal 7:00pm Choir Rehearsal Saturday, September 16 5:00pm Music Ministries Social Sunday, September 17 - Church School 10:00am Worship 4:00pm Middle School Youth Group 6:00pm High School Youth Group Wednesday, September 20 10:00am Prayer Shawl Knitters 11:00am Red Cross Blood Drive 7:00pm Christian Growth 7:00pm Trustees Thursday, September 21 5:45pm Handbell Rehearsal 7:00pm Choir Rehearsal Friday, September 22 11:00am Staff Meeting Sunday, September 24 10:00am Worship 4:00pm Middle School Youth Group 6:00pm High School Youth Group Wednesday, September 27 10:00am Women's Bible Study 7:00pm Church Council Thursday, September 28 5:45pm Handbell Rehearsal 7:00pm Choir Rehearsal Weekly AA Meetings at the Church Monday: Noon 6:30pm (beginners meeting) Tuesday: Noon Wednesday: 1:30pm Friday: 5pm (women s meeting) 8