12/30/16
My dear Church Community,
Thanks so much for the out-pouring of support during December. I loved all the prayers and cards. The food was delicious. We had so much to do to get through the day — it was nice not to have to cook.
Thank you to those who came to the funeral. I saw many of you, but could not say hello. I was surprised at the number of people who attended. Roy’s family was suffering so much at the funeral I had to stay with them. Our kids are still suffering a lot. They left on 12/27, reluctantly.
The church community will be one of my support systems going forward . . . thanks so much for your support and prayers — I will find peace each week at church.
There are no words to show my appreciation!
Love,
Wendy Haupt
Category: Newsletter
Snow Shoveling Schedule
Many thanks to the following families who have generously agreed to adopt our walkways for a week during the winter to keep them free of snow and safe.
January 9 – 15: Tom and Diane Leavitt
January 16 – 22: Ben DeJong
January 23 – 29: Tom and Angela Young
February’s schedule will be filled over the next few weeks. You can sign up here:
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Alternative Gift Fair
After worship this coming Sunday morning (12/17), you will have the opportunity, alongside catching up with friends and pewmates, over coffee, tea, and cookies, to do a little last minute shopping, and with a conscience to boot!
Cindy Sending and our youngest youth group will host an alternative gift fair, which is an opportunity to purchase gifts for friends and family at the last moment, by giving a gift in their name to one of three cool charities. We will give you a card to send to your family member or friend, saying that you’ve donated to “x” charity in their honor. The three charities are:
- Heifer Project International — This organization has been around for decades and also leverages the power of small gifts to multiply across time and geographic region by harnessing the power of animals to provide and reproduce and people to share.
- World Bicycle Relief Organization — Another relatively new organization, this charity is dedicated to the idea that bicycles are the means for a vast majority of people in this world to get a leg up. In the vast majority of areas of the world, walking is the one guaranteed mode of transport. A bicycle offers the real and immediate benefit through access to goods, services and especially education for women. “Powered by the remarkable human spirit, bicycles are a catalyst to possibilities.”
- Healthy Homeworks — The newest charity on our list, Healthy Homeworks was started by two friends of Peter’s in Portland, ME. The project began because Amy and Nate Smith wanted to purchase property to make available for rental in the up and coming community of Lewiston, ME. When they got there they discovered that the properties were infested with bed bugs. Healthy Homeworks provides free beds to anyone willing to provide 6 -8 hours of sweat equity. They come into the factory in Lewiston and build a bed for themselves and two other beds to sell.
Please come and do your last minute Christmas shopping with us!
Christmas Eve Schedule
Christmas Eve Services
Please note, because Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday, our worship times will be different. We will NOT meet for worship at 10am. Instead you are invited to attend one or both of the following services.
Family Christmas Eve Service — 4 pm.
Once again the family service will begin with an extended prelude offered by our own musicians, from amateur to professional. If you’d like t
o participate, please let either me or Mary Jane know so that we can formulate an order.
The service itself consists of the birth narrative (Luke and Matthew) and Christmas carols. The hallmark of this service is a Christmas story appropriate for children of all ages (of course including adults!) As always we’ll sing Silent Night by candle light.
Nine Lessons and Carols — 7 pm
Led by our fantastic choir, we’ll work our way through the prophecies of the birth of Jesus, the stories of his birth and the reason why they are so important even still. The choir will sing several glorious pieces of Christmas music and the congregation will add their voice with some of the carols we love to sing — including, of course, Silent Night by candle light.
Live Nativity
Partly because of the church concert schedule, and partly to encourage more participation, this year’s Live Nativity will be on Sunday, December 18, at our usual worship hour! We’ll start indoors, so come on in and listen to Mary Jane on the piano, but keep your coats with you. After the choir sings their anthem, we’ll head outside to the stable and sing carols while children, dressed up as Mary and Joseph and all the other cast of characters make their appearances with the animals. We hope to see you there!
