T H E  P A R I S H  N E W S

St. Mary’s United Church of Christ

Silver Run, Maryland

Volume XXX Decemeber 2009 No 11 modified for the Web.

(Previous issues available:  2006, 2007, 2008, 2009)

 

 

Message From the Pastor

Christmas begins with expectation.  The visions of our imaginations, the hopes of our hearts, the deepest longs of our souls, all these are fulfilled only by the grace of a loving God.  The Christmas story began long before Mary and Joseph set out from Nazareth toward Bethlehem.  The Christmas story had its beginnings in the hopes and longings of God’s people for a deliverer, a savior, a messiah, God’s own anointed one.  Sin, oppression, and evil are still realities that we face.  We are surrounded by the effects of human greed and selfishness, cruelty and hate.  Poverty and war and corruption continue as basic facts of our human existence.  The question is what do we expect?  Do we expect God to act?  Do we expect that God has the power to act?  Do we expect that God’s Will is to act and intercede on humanity’s behalf?

Advent is not only a time of preparation but also a time of expectation for the coming of the Christ Child. Our worship life is patterned to remember the story of Jesus: his birth, his crucifixion and death, his resurrection and his empowering of us by God’s Holy Spirit.  But the story begins with expectation.  This is our season of expectation.  As a church, we continue to live into the exciting future that lies before us.  As God’s people we can scarcely imagine the world that our gracious and loving God has in mind for us.  This is our time to dream.  This is our time to imagine.  This is our time to trust that God will act on our behalf by sending to us the Anointed One, the Christ.  May each of us experience the excitement.  May each of us savor the joy, and know God’s peace that overcomes our deepest fears.  May each of us receive the Christ Child with open arms and open hearts.  May our trust in God make this a season of expectation for each of us, so that we too with shepherds and wise men alike might recognize the miracle that is Christmas both this Christmas and forever.

            Grace and peace, Dick

Christmas Eve Services

 On Thursday evening, December 24th, our Church will hold two evening worship services.  A family Christmas Eve Candlelight service will begin at 7:00 PM and will include carols and special music by our Church Choir.  At 11:00 PM, we will meet for a Christmas Eve Candlelight Communion Service with special music provided by our praise band, Winds of the Spirit.  The sacrament will be administered by intinction.  All are invited to join with us.  Friends and family are welcome to come and share in the blessings of this holy evening when we celebrate the peace and joy that God alone provides for us in the message of the birth of Christ.  Hope to see you there!

CHRISTMAS CANTATA

Plan now to attend our Sunday morning worship service on December 20th at 10:30 AM to hear this year’s Cantata performance by our St. Mary’s church choir.  A Shepherd’s Tale is a cantata written and arranged by Dave & Jean Perry that features first person narration by an old shepherd and includes bells and brass as part of the musical experience.  Let’s show our appreciation for all those who have worked so hard to bring this gift of music to us by supporting them with our presence at this wondrous occasion.  Bring a friend and share the joy!

CHILDREN'S SUNDAY SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

The Children's Sunday School Christmas Program will be held on Sunday, Dec 13th during the 10:30 worship service.  This year the play is entitled “A Simple Christmas Pageant”.  Hope to see you there!

ADVENT WORKSHOP

Plan now to attend this year’s Advent Workshop, which will be held on Saturday, December 5th, starting at 9:00 AM.  This will be our opportunity to join together for decorating our church for the Advent and Christmas season.  A sign-up sheet will be posted on the bulletin board outside of the church office to allow everyone to choose the tasks they would like to help with.  We hope to be finished by late morning and decided to forgo a lunch afterwards.  Many hands make light work.  Hope to see you there!

CONGREGATIONAL MEETING

On Sunday, December 6th there will be a Congregational Meeting following the worship service.  The purpose of this meeting is to elect Consistory members and the Nominating Committee for 2010.  All members are encouraged to attend.

WHITE GIFT SUNDAY – December 6

Donations for Homewood Homes and Springfield Hospital residents should be brought in on this date.

Names of Homewood at Plum Creek residents were signed out.

For Springfield residents, the following items are much needed and would be very much appreciated:

For Men – shaving cream, shaving lotion, after shave, New electric razors, talcum powder, liquid soap, shirts, sweaters, gloves, socks, hats, slippers, underwear, pens, stationary, washcloths, Kleenex, handkerchiefs, bandannas, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, cologne.

For Women – cosmetics…lipstick, powder, makeup, etc. hair ribbons, barrettes, non-aerosol hair spray, talcum powder, perfume, lotion, washcloths, toiletries—shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, hand cream, slippers nightgowns, robes, sweaters, gloves, underwear, pens, stationary, liquid soap.

For either sex – puzzles, books, word find books, playing cards, all occasion cards, key chain, video tape, cassette tape, holiday cards.

Please remember on all wrapped gifts to note on the outside as to contents, and mark for male, female or either. Thank you!  

SOCK TREE

During the first three Sundays of Advent, the Children and Youth Ministries will be sponsoring a sock tree. Children, youth and adults are encouraged to bring pairs of socks to hang on the tree in the vestry.  All size socks from infant to adult are welcome. All the socks will be donated to Shepherd Staff, in Westminster , MD.   For further information contact Linda.

CHRISTMAS FUND OFFERING

The Christmas Fund is a special all church offering of the United Church of Christ.  Established to benefit the “Veterans of the Cross,” this offering helps to offer assistance to retired pastors of our denomination and their spouses who have had to retire with inadequate retirement income.  Our church will receive this special offering on Sunday, December 20th, when envelopes will be available.  During this season of giving, let’s remember those who have given their lives in Christ’s service with this expression of our generosity.

ADVENT ENVELOPES

In this newsletter, again you will find an offering envelope instead of a coin folder for your Advent Offering.  We invite you make use of this offering envelope by bringing it to any of our worship services throughout the Christmas season or you can mail it to the church office with your holiday donation.  Non designated Advent offering envelopes will go to support this year’s Benevolence Fund giving effort.  And as always we are grateful for your support of our ministries and outreach at St. Mary’s church.

News from the Fellowship Committee…

Here at St. Mary’s everyone seems to agree that the Fellowship committee works hard to provide delicious meals monthly, as well as, coffee hour refreshments.  That being said, we are in need of help from the folks who enjoy partaking of the meals and other treats.  That help would be in cleaning up after table fellowship meals.  When the kitchen was in the process of renovation, it was decided to be more eco-responsible and thus better stewards of the earth by purchasing dinnerware to use rather than disposable paper products.  However, this makes clean-up a very time consuming task even with the super duper dishwasher that was installed.  Every plate, dish, cup, glass and utensil must be rinsed before putting in the dishwasher.  The folks who are cleaning up are dealing with this task until 2 pm or later every month after the meal.

We desperately need your help with this!  If you are willing to help, please speak to someone on the committee (Nancy, Lisa, Belinda, Debbie or Carla).  We will work out a “process” to share the clean-up duties so that a few do not have to spend their Sunday afternoon “in the kitchen”!

A second concern is that we ask everyone not to borrow pans, etc. from the kitchen without checking with someone on the committee first.  This creates a problem for those of us who have responsibility for the coffee hour and can’t find what is needed.

Thirdly, December’s table fellowship will be December 13th with the “Winds of the Spirit” providing music for a carol sing after the meal.  We will be using festive holiday paper products for this meal to simplify clean-up so everyone can enjoy the Christmas carol singing.  We hope everyone will plan to attend and participate in the festivities!!  We wish you all a blessed Christmas Season.

From the FINANCE COMMITTEE

The congregation is reminded that with one month remaining in 2009, we are still carrying a large deficit in our church’s General Fund.  Because of the large reduction in our investment income this year, Consistory has allocated a transfer from our Special Items Fund to the General Fund but we are still in need of a strong finish in the month ahead.  Reminding ourselves of the abundance that God has granted to us, we are asking each of us to make the best effort that we can make in support of our church and its ministries.  In these challenging times, please know that every gift is valued and appreciated; and we thank everyone for their ongoing support of St. Mary’s church.

STEPHEN MINISTRY CORNER

What a Stephen Minister IS and IS NOT

 

A Stephen Minister is a caring, compassionate friend who is a good listener, a firm believer in God, and one who can keep confidences. 

A Stephen Minister is not a trained counselor and does not pretend to be. 

A Stephen Minister is there for people who are experiencing challenges, hurts, or crises in their lives – to be a friend who will not give advice or judge, but rather be a sounding board when they need to talk. 

For information about having a Stephen Minister, please contact Pastor Scott, Steve or Dorothy Ellen.

ATTENTION - SUNDAY SCHOOL CANCELLATION

Children’s Sunday school will be cancelled on Sunday, December 27th.  Classes will resume on Sunday, January 3rd.

KID’S NIGHT OUT

The December 27th Kid’s Night Out will be cancelled.  Kid’s Night out will resume Sunday, January 24th. Join us the last Sunday of every month from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. for an evening of fun & games.  All kids in Grades K through high school are welcome.  Bring a friend!  A light snack will be provided.  The church office for more information.

Thank You for sharing our Parish News! If you would like to be added to our mailing list, please contact the church office.

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Page last updated: December 3, 2009

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