SOUP SUPPER THANK YOU
Thank You to all who helped make the Soup Supper a success! With your help, we made $1,040.
Donna & Lenny
CHRISTMAS BAZAAR
December 6, 2008
9:30AM-2PM
New Crafts, Food Table,
New/Slightly Used Items
Lots of help is needed to make the Bazaar a success:
· Setting up tables and bringing down attic items - Thursday (12/4)
· New handmade priced crafts - needed by Friday (12/5) at 6PM
· New or slightly used Christmas items to sell - needed by Friday (12/5) at 6PM
· Pricing help - 6PM on Friday (12/5)
· Baked goods, jams, jellys, pickles - needed Friday (12/5) or before 9AM on Saturday (12/6)
· Help with preparing and serving food for luncheon (soup, salad, beverages, etc.)
· Helpers are needed on Saturday (12/6) to help with lunch and with the cleanup (1:45PM)
Please call Ginny Taylor (727-0529) if you can help out with the bazaar or Donna Doroszka (722-4131) to help out with the luncheon.
CHRISTMAS FLOWERS
Please help "Deck the Halls" by bringing your Christmas flowers to the church (side door) on Saturday, December 20th between 9AM and Noon.
~ VIEWS AND REFLECTIONS ~
From our home to yours...
Dear Old Steeple Family,
Our California musician son, Josh, recently forwarded to us a "Beautiful International Version" of "Stand by Me." The "You Tube" video features musicians from all over the world adding a phrase or two to the popular old John Lennon standard. The words seem so apropos of our current economic and social circumstances. Do you remember them?
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
No I wont be afraid
No I wont be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me.
While the song is presumably sung to a close friend or lover, it could be a prayer to a loving God - "Stand by us, Lord, so that we won't have to be afraid in these frightening times!"
The season of Advent shouts out an answer to our prayer. There is One who has promised to stand by us - in every time and season. He was foretold by prophets of old. Born of a human mother he has come to us and shared our human condition, conquering sin and death, healing our broken hearts, and showing us the way to be reconciled to one another within famlies and among nations.
The song continues:
If the sky that we look upon
Should tumble and fall
And the mountain should crumble to the sea, I wont cry, I wont cry
No I wont shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
It sounds like another song that we often sing in this season:
O come, thou Dayspring, come and cheer our spirits by thine advent here. Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death's deep shadows put to flight.
Rejoice, rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!
(Verse 2 of O Come, O Come Emmanuel)
With the coming of the Season of Advent we begin again in the church. With the advent of the living Spirit of Christ coming into our hearts we begin our lives anew. As we reach out to those around us - to stand by one another in the Spirit of the One who stands by us, we help the world to have a fresh start.
It continues to be our joy and privilege to stand by you, and we are so grateful for the many ways you have stood by us and supported the many ministries of Old Steeple Church, The United Church of Christ, and our ecumenical partners on Long Island and around the world in the name of our coming Lord Jesus.
May the HOPE, PEACE, JOY, AND LOVE of this wondrous season be yours.
Revs. Led and Nancy Baxter
+++
Gathered and welcomed
by the loving Sprit of Jesus Christ,
we are listening and responding
to the still-speaking God
who calls us into ministries
of friendship with compassion
and peace with justice.
(Adopted by the congregation on June 25, 2006)
CHRISTIAN ACTION'S
CHRISTMAS GIFT & FOOD PROJECT
The Christian Action Committee will be collecting Christmas food and gifts for donation to the Long Island Council of Churches. Gifts of all types (clothes, toys, hats/gloves, etc.) and gifts for all ages are needed (especially teenage gifts). Please do not wrap the gifts. There is a basket at the front door of the church for food donations and a box outside of the church office to leave your gifts. All gifts need to be brought to the church by Sunday, December 14th for delivery to the Council.
MAUREEN'S HAVEN UPDATE
As the homeless population increases, we are asking for monetary donations to help defray the costs of feeding and housing our guests on the 1st and 3rd Mondays-Tuesdays of the month. We feel lucky and very grateful to have the use of First Parish's Hall on Sound Avenue, but there are major food items, laundry bills and other expenses to cover.
Thanks to all those who have made contributions of food, paper goods and money. Special thanks to Gerry Hulse who made 16 welcome bags, and to her family who helped fill them with goodies; to Rick and Debbie Reeve for the broccoli, cauliflower, turnips, apples and cider; and to the Garden of Eve who gave us fresh vegetables for our first meal. It was a great send-off for our little program, and the guests seemed very appreciative.
We'll continue to "beg and borrow" from various sources!!
SOLDIER OF THE MONTH PROJECT
Six care packages were mailed to soldiers serving in Afghanistan: Kevin Cornelius, Patrick Warfle, Ralph Rivera, George Kuk, Dave Rigo and Ray Fitzgerald. The men are PJ's who are with The Air National Guard from Westhampton Beach. Thanks to Tina Ruschin for supplying the names. Please let Donna Atkins know of any overseas soldiers who would like to receive a package.
Donna is also in need of items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, razors, shampoo, shaving cream, sunscreen, socks, skin lotion, snack food, drink mixes, lip ice, gum, body wash, playing cards, Frisbees, long distance phone cards., etc. (no candy please - it melts in the heat). Monetary donations would be appreciated to defray the cost of shipping. Checks can be made payable to OSC and noted for our soldier project. Thank you to everyone who has been so generous!
CHRISTMAS CARDS FOR SOLDIERS
When you are doing your Christmas cards this year, please take one card and send it to this address:
A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20307-5001
If everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful, special people who have sacrificed so much would receive.
NOMINATIONS
Our Nominating Committee is at work among us. They are matchmakers seeking to match personal gifts with church responsibilities. If you are feeling "called" to serve God in some way through this wonderful congregation, please contact John Andresen at 722-3322 or Paulette Sherman at 727-5844.
COLLEGE CARE PACKAGE
THANK YOU'S
On Sunday evening, October 19th, college care packages were packed in the fellowship hall and sent off to 18 of our Old Steeple college students. Thank you to all who helped pack and who donated items for the boxes. We've received many thank you notes:
Thank you for the gifts and please thank the congregation for me. All is going well here. I should be back in time for Christmas. Thank you again.
Best wishes, Joshua Pileski
Thank you very much for your kind and thoughtful care package! I shared its contents with my roommate and we are still enjoying the goodies. Thank you, also, for the kind wishes. May you have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!
Sincerely, Shannon Corwin
Thank you so much for the care package! It was very thoughtful and generous of you all! Looking forward to seeing everyone at this year's Christmas service!
God Bless, Caitlin Thomas
I am writing to thank you for the wonderful care package that you sent to me at college. It was so thoughtful and really made my day! Also, thank you for welcoming my grandparents, Guy & Barbara Fein, into your warm community. It makes me happy to know that they have found a church to call home.
Best Wishes, Casey Costanzo
Thank you so much for your warm wishes! And please tell everyone hello. The care package was wonderful. I really appreciate being thought of! Hope to see you soon.
Sincerely, Danielle Reeve
Thank you very much for the care package. It is always appreciated and usually doesn't last too long after I receive it. I hope everything is going well with the church and that the following holiday season is a good one. Happy Halloween!
Matthew Wells
I deeply appreciate all the treats and goodies I received in the mail! College students can always use a great package like that. I was not expecting it one bit and it was a great surprise. Hope all is well with everyone and I'm looking forward to seeing you all.
With love, Kimberli Reeve
Thank you very much for the wonderful treats you have given me. I didn't know they still made silly putty but was thrilled when I saw it in the box. I played with it for at last twenty minutes. Seriously. Thanks again and I'll see you all during the holidays.
Love, Brett Chizever
L.I.O.N. PUBLIC ACTION HELD
AT OLD STEEPLE
Thanks to all who helped to organize and who attended the Long Island Organizing Network (L.I.O.N.) public action meeting here on November 18th. We celebrate the strong community spirit in which citizens and elected officials are working together to make health care, housing, and recreation more affordable and accessible to everyone. 140 people attended the meeting representing a broad cross-section of our diverse community.
PAST MEETS PRESENT
IN "COLONIAL SERVICE"
We had some fun with the Colonial service on Thanksgiving Sunday, November 23 as another part of our ongoing 250th anniversary of Old Steeple Church. Blending Pilgrim and Puritan traditions from the 17th and 18th centuries with some of our current worship practice, we saw some great costumes and imagined what worship was like for our Congregational ancestors. While we did some "different things" like having men and women sit on opposite sides, a drumming call to worship, a song leader "lining" a hymn for the congregation to follow, the "tythingman" keeping drowsy worshippers awake, and special music from the Colonial and early American period, it is remarkable to see the continuity with our present worship pattern. We can also draw inspiration from the past to carry us into God's future when we see how we are part of a long living "Mission Tradition" at Thanksgiving and throughout the year.
Thanks to all who helped to create and to lead this "historic" event. There is already talk among "ye faithful saints" of a sequel next year.
