12 december 2016 monthly star(1) -...

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID EAST AURORA, NY 14052 PERMIT NO. 44

December 2016

Church Contacts Pastor: Adam C. Jensen 716.652.9197 716.860.1775 (Cell) Associate Pastor : Ron Hager 716.652.5977 Vicar: Dan Stahl 716.861.2706 Church Secretary & Calendar Questions: Katie Jensen 716.652.9197 Choir Director: Bob Posenjak 716.698.5363 President: Bob Riehle 716.912.0249 Sunday School Superintendent: Lori Ignatowski Mission Team: Maria Vergien 716.655.3609 Church e-mail: [email protected] (NOTE: new email) Web Site: saintpaulschurch.com

��STAR ARTICLES are due by the 3rd Sunday of the month. Please e-mail articles, corrections, updates or address changes to

Denine Cole at [email protected] or call her at

716-777-3920. NOTE: new email address and phone number! 10/29

ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH

Visit us on the Web! saintpaulschurch.com Worship Services:

Sunday at 8:15am & 11am Saturday at 5pm

Sunday School 9:30am Annual Budget

Meeting: Sunday, December 4 at

12:15p.m.

OPEN FOR PRAYER

Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church 53 West Falls Road West Falls, NY 14170-9716 (Return Service Requested)

In God We Trust

The Christ Thief: When Jesus Wields His Advent Crowbar By Rev. Chad Bird

We’ve all seen the picture of a halo-wearing Jesus standing at the door and knocking. Not as familiar is the ski-mask-wearing Jesus who jumps our fence, pries open our back door with a crowbar, and skulks inside to steal our stuff. This December, as we step into Advent, it’s the Christ Thief who demands our attention. • “Behold, I am coming like a thief!” Jesus tells John (Rev 16:15). • The day of the Lord will “come like a thief,” Paul tells the

church (1 Thess 5:2). • And Jesus says his advent will be like a home invasion (Matt

24:43). I know, not exactly how I envisioned the Son of God back in Sunday School, either. But we need this other picture of Jesus, too, especially in this pre-Christmas season where we prize—and deify—all the wrong things. "Perhaps, during Advent, a season with pornographic levels of consumption in which our credit card debts and our waistbands expand, the idea that Jesus wants to break in and jack some of our stuff is really good news," writes Nadia Bolz-Weber in Accidental Saints. We need God’s Son to show up on our doorstep, not with a knock but a crowbar.

1, 8, 15—Confirmation Class (no class 22 or 29) 1 & 15—Stephen Ministry Meeting 3—Elders Committee Meeting 3, 10, 17, 31—Knitting

4—Annual Congregational Budget Meeting:

All members please attend! 12:15 (after 11:00 service)

4—Faith Café 4—Women’s Christmas Party 6, 20, 27—Mission Team Meeting 7, 14, 21, 28—Prayer Group Meeting 10—Men’s Breakfast at Iron Kettle 13—Mission Team Christmas Party 15—MOPS Christmas Party 17—Deacons Meeting 17—Pageant Practice/Jesus’ birthday party 17—East Aurora Annual Carolcade 18—Sunday School Christmas Pageant 19—Women’s Group Meeting 24—Christmas Eve Candlelight Services 25—Christmas Service (10am only)

Future Events

Jan. 4—Blood Mobile

The Monthly Star

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF ST. PAUL’S LUTHERAN CHURCH / DECEMBER 2016

December Events

The Monthly Star

Come, Lord Jesus, and steal our control. We are control hoarders. Every room in the house of our life is stacked with plans and schedules we manipulate to deceive ourselves into assuming we have a firm grip on the chaos of our lives. We don’t. One short in our home’s electrical wiring can send it all up in smoke. One quick glance at the phone in our laps can send us into the back of a semi and into ICU. We are not in control. We are in Christ. Come, Lord Jesus, steal our self-confident plans and replace them with God-given trust that, no matter what happens, we are safe in the home of your grace. Come, Lord Jesus, and steal our independence. We pride ourselves on needing no one. Standing on our own two feet. But it’s all a lie. And a rather comical one at that. The lady standing in the grocery store line thinks of herself as an independent woman—but without farmers she’d have no groceries to buy. Without construction workers there’d be no store. Without her employer she’d have no money. Without assembly line laborers, she’d have no car to drive them home in. And without seamstresses, she’d be standing there buck naked. Independent? Whatever. Our lives are thoroughly enmeshed in a web of de-pendence. Come, Lord Jesus, steal our self-important arrogance and replace it with God-given gratitude for all that you do for us through the hands of others. Come, Lord Jesus, and steal our sacred sins. The idols of our “righteous causes” hang in every room of our homes. Our political and religious crusades that make us feel important in the eyes of God and others. They give us a sense of identity and purpose and meaning in life. These causes may (or may not) be good, but we transmogrify them into our mini-gods. And we castigate those who disagree with us, belittle them, and say with our actions—if not our words—that they’ll never be as special to God as we are. Come, Lord Jesus, and steal our navel-gazing worship, and replace it with love for our adversaries, ears to listen and mouths to shut up, and hearts brimming with compassion for all. Advent is a season of preparation, readiness, awareness. • Prepare us, O Lord, to be prepared by you for your advent among us. • Ready us, O Lord, to suffer the destruction of all our precious faux gods, that we might have true

riches in you. • Make us aware, O Lord, that you give and take away, you kill and make alive, you ransack our homes

to steal all the stupid stuff that keeps us from you, and replace it with simple, humble gifts wrapped in crucified love.

Visit our homes, O Christ Thief, during this Advent season, wielding your sacred crowbar.

CHRISTMAS PRAYER CARDS ARE BEING PRINTED FOR YOU

TO GIVE TO FRIENDS, FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS!

SHARE A PRAYER AND SHARE THE GOSPEL

December 2016 Page 15

Monthly Stats

St. Paul’s Officers

President: Bob Riehle Vice President: Ken Cox Secretary: Maria Schultz Treasurer: Stephen Aldstadt Financial Secretary: Maureen Schinzel Trustees: Ron Strack Dan Schinzel Jim McGee Gloria Potzler

Deacons: Mary Barkey Barb Rotino Liz Stewart Jim Schinzel Elders: Dan Stahl Doug Stoddart Claudia Strickland Sue Cox

Mission Chair: Maria Vergien Sunday School: Lori Ignatowski Marsha Welshans

CHURCH ATTENDANCE OFFERING SUNDAY SCHOOL SUNDAY 2015 2016 NEEDED 2015 2016 MAIL-IN 2015 2016 OFFERING

10/30 126 129 $3,750.00 $3,391.00 $2,232.00 $75.00

11/6 131 129 $3,750.00 $1,715.00 $2,272.00 $350.00

11/13 159 134 $3,750.00 $2,917.00 $2,977.00 $220.00

11/27 143 148 $3,750.00 $1,293.00 $2,037.00 -0-

11/20 130 111 $3,750.00 $1,525.00 $1,141.00 $709.00

49 53 $10.00

54 45 $39.00

69 $33.00

43

67 $31.00

Baptism of Gwendolyn Louise Balon on Sunday, November 27, 2016 performed by Rev. Adam Jensen

Official Acts

Church Secretary Position Denine will be resigning from her position. Hours are flexible; average 10 hours per week (more as necessary). Duties include producing all service bulletins and Monthly Star newsletter, keeping calendar, recording weekly church attendance, compiling annual report, updating membership database, mailing Monthly Star and occasional additional mailings, email communica-tion, ordering office supplies, other misc. duties. Ongoing training will be available. Denine is willing to answer questions about du-ties. If interested in position, Contact Bob Riehle at 912-0249 by December 10.

The Monthly Star

Grace be with you all. Hebrews 13:25

Page 14

Luther League-Lori Ignatowski Ok, we are going to get busy! We have calen-dars for sale. You can purchase them in the fel-lowship hall at any time on the honor system. They are $6 for the full size calendar and $4 for the pocket calendar. We will be planning up-coming meetings and events this week so please watch the bulletin for dates and times. If anyone has ideas for the Luther League to do or you have something you would like to share at one of our meetings, please let me know. Blessings, Lori

Women of the Word November 21, 2016 Claudia Strickland 7:00 p.m.

Our Bible Study: Chapter 11 of A Life of Worship was read by Dawn McGee. Thank you for our trinkets! Treasurer’s Report: Still have money in ac-count after trip to BJs to stock kitchen. Old business: sign up for Camp Odosagih went well. Lots of fun was had by all! Christmas Party Dec. 4th—dinner at 6pm. Bring your White Elephant (gag) gift! New business: donat-ed monies to Operation Christmas Child for postage. Gave monies to other people/organizations as gifts. Picked out new book: Living Above Worry and Stress. Meeting adjourned at 8:15p.m.

Men of St. Paul’s The men of Saint Paul’s meet on the second Saturday of every month at 7AM, at the Iron Kettle for breakfast, good fellow-ship and great discussions.

Bring your Bible and join us in a relaxed atmosphere as breakfast is shared along with

God’s Word.

Kim Christensen & Katie Jensen MOPs moms will be ringing in the season with a Christmas Tea at their De-cember meeting on Thursday, the 15th at 9:30 a.m. We will make our own tea hats and enjoy tea and homemade treats using the tea set we bought at the flea market!

We do not have an evening meeting planned for this month due to the business of the Christmas season, but we will post any changes in plans to our Facebook page and in weekly church bulletin announce-ments. Please be praying for this ministry that we would reach moms in need. If you are interested in helping out with Moppets (child care in the nursery) please let us know.

MINISTRY NEWS

December 2016

December already! We had a fun time at our packing party in November. We ended up donating 252 shoe boxes to Operation Christmas Child. If you were unable to make the party or to pack your own box, you can still help out, you can make a cash donation to cover the postage of the boxes. Any donation will help offset the cost. Thank you in advance.

This month we have our Christmas Pageant! We will have our Birthday Party for Jesus & Pageant rehearsal on Satur-day December 17th at 11 am-1pm with pizza and cake.

Then our pageant on Sunday December 18th.

Everyone is welcome to come and celebrate with our Sunday School kids our Savior’s birth. The kids have put in a lot of work

and want to show you their talent.

There will also be goodies and coffee after the show. If you are able, please bring a plate to share. Please come out and enjoy a very special evening.

Again, if anyone is interested in using their God given gifts with children, please let me know. We’d love to have you join us. For those of you who have children SS age or any of you adults who do not already attend SS, I encourage you to try us out. You will be truly blessed! Any questions, please talk to me any time or call me at 652-0781. God Bless, Lori

Sunday School Lori Ignatowski

Ever want to weave more faith into your family during the week? I will try and give you an idea each month. For this month we have the Focus On the Good Give family members each a card with Philippians 4:8 printed on it. Ask them to think about the activity they do most-listen to music, watch TV, play video games, cook. Ask each person to place the card on the object or in the area where he or she does the activity. During the week, challenge family members to think about the positive side of their favorite activity and try to find one thing related to that activity that fits the verse and honors God, such as cooking food for family members, keeping in touch with friends, or choosing TV shows that have a positive message. Have them write what honors God on the card and keep it visible as a reminder to choose things in our lives that honor God. Scripture: “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and wor-thy of praise” (Philippians 4:8).

Weaving Faith Lori Ignatowski

Sunday, December

18th @ 7pm

The Monthly Star

Have You Made God Smile Today? Pray for a Child. How blessed are we that our Creator, God Almighty gives us a gift! Can this gift be found in our Christmas stocking or under the tree?

Will this gift be exactly what we want? Will we spend alot of time enjoying our gift? Will we treasure our gift forever and ever? Will we share our gift with others?

It is my prayer that this gift is exactly what you want. I pray that you spend your life enjoying this gift and you will treasure this gift forever!

This gift comes with: Love, Friendship, Salvation, Forgiveness, Mercy, Grace and Guidance, and so much more!!! God gives us His Only Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!!! This is the only gift you will get this Christmas that keeps on giving! Jesus loves us so much! Jesus gives us eternal life!!

Jesus reunites us with our loved ones in heaven!!! Thank you, Jesus!!!

December 18th is the Sunday School Christmas Pageant. Please come and join us as we celebrate the true gift of Christmas!

Please join me as we continue to pray for our children.

Father, God, thank you for the gift of Jesus, the baby in the manger, the best gift ever!! We, at St. Paul's church love Jesus! We love you, God! And we love our children! This month we pray especially for the third and fourth grade class. We pray for Grace Janish, Kaylee Zarnowski, Arianna Belz, Alli-son Francis, Daisy Strack, Mason Cole, Mark Rotino, Noah Nahrebeski, Isaac Nahrebeski, Ariana Walker and Angelina Rotino. We pray that they and all children are filled with your love and joy and treasure the gift of the Christ child on Christmas day and everyday. Lord, you hear our prayers for Lucas Leitzan. You hear as we pray for healing. Thank you for holding him close to your heart.

We thank you for hearing our prayers in the name of Jesus our Newborn King! Amen.

Jesus Prays for all Believers

"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one - I in them and you in me - so that they may be brought to complete unity. The the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me be-cause you loved me before the creation of the world. Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." John 17: 20 - 26 Faithfully submitted on behalf of Sunday School by Kirsten Chase. Email me at [email protected]

Anonymous $1.91

Dolly Koske—In memory of Arthur Koske (one year Dec. 3rd) We miss you! - the whole family $100.00

Mr. & Mrs. Michael Vargo $25.00

Mrs. James G. Hill $100.00

Mr. & Mrs. James Brooks Jr. $25.00 In loving memory of mom, Charlotte Baur from Dave & Bonnie Schroeder $100.00 In memory of Charles Stahl from Dave & Bonnie Schroeder $50.00 Timothy Francis $40.00 Wade Richards $20.00 Kevin McGee $2.00 Anonymous $15.00 Anonymous $20.00

November Total $497.00

December 2016 Page 13

Donations to the Building Fund are published in the Monthly Star in the format you see. If you would like your gift to be listed anonymously, please indicate so on your envelope and we will be happy to comply.

Those who celebrate their December Anniversaries

Building Fund

1, 1956 Ron & Kay Leitzan 60 years 1, 2001 Tom & Pat Weston 15 years 11, 1976 Dennis & Marcia Wilger 40 years 22, 2001 Jack & Lori Slagle 15 years 24, 1997 Robert & Judith Elliott 19 years 30, 1983 Ronald & Linda Schenne 33 years

If I missed your anniversary or have the wrong date please let me know so I can make the correction. Thank you, Denine [email protected]

WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THE MONTHLY STAR!

If you have a story or a poem that you have written or a report on a past church activity that will encour-age the congregation, please submit it to pastor Adam. Any age group is welcome to participate. We simply ask that you keep the following in mind: 1) What you submit must be biblical; 2)it must relate to the ministry of St. Paul's; 3) it must be encouraging; 4) and it is subject to approval.

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before

Him with joyful songs. Psalm 100:1,2

The Monthly Star

JESUS is a life-line for a tired soul, an exhausted mind, and a broken heart. Call out to Him in prayer.

Those with health concerns: Our Savior and healer we ask that you would touch those in need of healing; give them at all times comfort and peace, and help them

to accept your perfect will no matter what the outcome may be. We pray for the following: Tony, Colin, Lucas, Heather, Hollie, Mike, Erik, Jeff, Barb, Elain, Alice, James, Wayne, Joseph, Michael, grandma, Paul, John, Mark, Brian, Patty, Ed & Edith, Thomas, Ron, Kim, and others … AMEN!

Our Homebound Members: Ever-present Lord, you have promised never to leave us nor forsake us but to abide with us to the end of time. Grant those who are homebound the comfort of your presence. May your grant them today an encouraging visitor or phone call. Give to them strength in prayer, knowing that their prayers for our congregation are a powerful and effective work. May your Word fill them with faith and hope. Specifically we pray for: Vi Cornwell, Arlene Koch, Alan Dietz, Diane Hawk, Laura Tomaski and Walter & Katie Anstett.

Those in the midst of life’s trials and tribulations: Heavenly Father, the dark shadow of this fallen would cause us to experience many difficulties in this life. Yet we are filled with hope and find our strength in your one and only Son, Jesus Christ who overcome the world through his death and resurrection. Help those who are facing trials with the hope of the cross and resurrection. We pray for: Struggling couples, the unemployed, those dealing with mental illness, the incarcerated, many who struggle with addiction, those who grieve the loss of a loved one, families working through the hurt of divorce, those who suffer relentless physical pain…

Our Country and World: Lord, keep this nation under your care. Bless the leaders of our land that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth. Grant that we may choose trustworthy leaders, contribute to wise decisions for the general welfare, and serve You faithfully in our generation; through Jesus Christ. AMEN!

Those serving in the armed forces: Lord God of hosts, stretch forth your almighty arm to strengthen and protect those who serve in the armed forces of our country. Support them in times of war, and in times of peace keep them from all evil, giving them courage and loyalty. Grant that in all things they may serve with integrity and with honor, through Jesus Christ. Specifically we pray for: Andrea & Nathan Solomon, Mary & Doug Schroeder, Douglass Ziemer… (if your family member has been omitted please contact the church office.)

Our Evangelistic Work: Increase, O God, the faith and the zeal of all your people, that they may more diligently seek the salvation of their neighbors, through the message of your love in Jesus Christ our Lord. Send forth a mighty call unto all your servants, granting unto them hearts of love, sincerity of speech, and power from the Holy Spirit, that they may be able speak the gospel so that many forsake sin and return unto you. And so bless and favor the work of your people, that multitudes may be brought from the bondage of evil into the kingdom of your dear Son; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

December 2016

Opportunities to Share Christ’s Love Within Our Community

East Aurora Carolcade

December 17 @ 7pm in front of Vidler's 5 & 10.

Join the St. Paul's family and our community for a time of joy and singing! We will hand out prayer cards to all who attend the Carolcade.

We desire for all in our community to know the true blessing of Christmas.

St. Paul's is partnering with UB Medical students! A team of students from UB medical school volunteer with UB H.E.A.L.S (Homeless health, Education, Awareness, and Leadership in Street medicine). They are in need of donations that consist of basic first aid supplies (gauze, first aid tape, 4x4 bandages, disinfectant etc), over the counter meds (tylenol, advil, cold meds etc.), and socks. One of their most requested items from people on the streets is a clean pair of socks. St. Paul's will serve as a drop off location. Please arrange a time to drop off over the counter meds directly to Pastor, or Katie. We will not accept prescription medication. Don't leave any meds unsecure in the church Narthex.

FISH OF EAST AURORA- Holiday turkeys

The food for the month of December is TUNA. At this time our storage area is in need of food to restock. Our food supply is very low. With the large volume of clients at Thanksgiving, a large amount of food was given out. We rely on holiday food drives, monthly church collections and donations by individuals, schools, and businesses to restock our storage area. For Christmas alone we are expecting 100-

110 small families (families of 1 or 2 people) and 60-65 large families (families of 3-11). With Christ-mas coming, we are accepting turkeys and chickens, as well as other foods for holiday meals. They can be brought to FISH Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9-12 noon or you can make arrangements with Sue Cox (652-6835). Any food items are truly appreciated and can be placed in the box in the narthex of the church. Thank you so much.

Sue Cox

LCMC News Dan Stahl

There are 21 Churches in the state of New York who belong to the LCMC.

The 17th Annual Gathering October 8-11, 2017 at Hilton Minneapolis

1001 S Marquette Ave / Minneapolis, MN 55403 / (612) 376-1000

Stay tuned for further details. You can also download our mobile app for regular news updates on the Annual Gathering, as well as other events.

LCMC Website Has a New Layout! (www.lcmc.net) By Kristy Thomas - LCMC - October 3, 2016 The LCMC Staff and Board of Trustees is excited to announce that today we have launched a new and im-proved version of our website in conjunction with our new logo and mobile app. To help make using our site a better experience for all, we have simplified our layout, made our site easier to navigate overall, and completely optimized it for use on your smartphone or tablet, so you can access the same resources and information as before in a more efficient way. In addition to simplifying our menu system, we’ve made it quicker for pastors and congregations to update their directory information, submit events for the LCMC calendar, and share their prayer requests and news stories. (Just click on the red button at the top of the page you'd like us to update!) Our "Find a Church" tool has also been updated, making it easier to search for nearby LCMC congregations in any area. We’ve also cleaned up the layout of our media library, mak-ing it easier to find and watch videos from past LCMC events. (You’ll find the same organization of videos and podcasts inside our mobile app, which enables its users to stream media to their TV using Apple TV or Google Chromecast.) We hope you enjoy the new look and improved functionality of our website. If you have any questions, you can always contact us.

The Monthly Star

Presently (as of 11/21/16):

Total Congregations: 933 U.S. Congregations: 744 States Represented: 43 Countries Represented: 17

Christmas Party & White Elephant Gift Exchange

Hosted by Women of the Word

December 4th @ 6pm / Armor Inn Tap Room 5381 Abbott Rd., Hamburg

Sign-up will be coming soon in the Narthex along with menu selections Meal will include salad, potato & vegetable

Don’t forget your white elephant gift!

December 2016

Page 11

Elder Committee Meeting November 5, 2016 The Elder's met to talk about the need to do the work of evangelism in our community, outside the 4 walls of the church. We talked about having a presence in our community at various events. We thought the East Aurora Carolcade would be a good opportunity to give away prayer cards.

HOLIDAY SERVICE SCHEDULE Christmas Eve Candle Light Services

Saturday, December 24th @ 7pm & 11pm

Christmas Day Sunday, December 25th @ 10am

New Year’s Eve Service

Saturday, December 31st @ 7pm

Memorial / Honor Garden If you would like to place a poinsettia in the church on Christmas Eve in honor or in memory of someone, kindly fill out the following form and return to me, or place it in Sunday’s offering basket, with $9.00 per plant by December 18th. Checks can be made payable to St. Paul’s Lutheran. After either Christmas Eve service you will be able to take a plant home with you. Please fill out the form with how you wish it to appear in the Christmas Eve bulletin. Thank you for your support, Marian Riehle, 655-6251 2266 Grover Road, West Falls, NY 14170

Memorial Garden

Your Name____________________________________________

In Loving Memory of_____________________________________________

Honor Garden

Your Name___________________________________________

In Loving Honor Of______________________________________________

The Monthly Star

Church Council Meeting Minutes November 8, 2016 7:00pm Attendees: Pastor Adam, Ken Cox, Sue Cox, Lori Ignatowski, Jim McGee, Gloria Potzler, Bob Riehle, Barb Rotino, Dan Schinzel, Maria Schultz, Doug Stoddart, Claudia Strickland Pastor Adam opened the meeting with Bible Study; concluded at 7:20 p.m. Review of September Minutes. Treasurer’s Report was reviewed. Dan Schinzel made MOTION to accept report pending audit. Sunday School Report - Lori reported that Sunday school is doing well; packing boxes for Christmas Child is this coming Sunday; planning for Christmas pageant. Youth group will have 2017 wall calendars ($6.00) and pocket calendars ($4.00) available soon. Trustees’ Report - in monthly Star. Deacons’ Report - did not meet last month. Elders’ Report - planning to participate in “Carolcade” in E. Aurora. Pastor Adam will have prayer cards to hand out. Stephen’s Ministry - Sue reported that workshop went well. About 55 people attended. They will be meeting twice a month. Benevolence Communication – (no new news from any of the Benevolence organizations) Unfinished Business: St. Paul’s 150th anniversary celebration - no news Gym remodel update - Miranda Rotino, Ken Cox and Kevin Glover had one meeting. New Business: LCMC conference - still in the process of collecting all invoices for reimbursement Dec./Jan. Monthly Star - MOTION was made by Ken Cox to combine Jan.and Dec. Monthly Star. All were in favor. Motion accepted. Secretarial job - Ken Cox will make the job description details to split between Denine and Katie. Pastor Adam made the MOTION; accepted and passed. Duffield - Budget Committee is meeting in December and Camp Duffield will be discussed. Ter-mination of financial support for Duffield will be discussed at Decembers Congregational meeting. Need to vote on every-other-month meeting; the attendance by members has been down. The e-mail reminders are being overlooked and people forgetting; calendars are not checked; Discussion of hard copies to be mailed one week prior to the council meeting. Constitution need to be ratified if meeting every other month continues. Discussion further at Decembers Congregational meeting. Medical Insurance - a slight increase in premium & deductible. MOTION was made by Doug Stoddart to bring this up at Congregational Budget meeting in Dec. “Church Sponsored Ministry Event/Fundraiser Request Form” was modified /clarified per Coun-cil approval by Ken and filed accordingly. Sue Cox closed with a prayer.

Deacon’ Meeting Minutes : No Meeting in November

December 2016

We are grateful for all the expres-sions : sympathy we received, the people who came to the funer-

al home and the book on grief.

Blessings,

Meribeth & Bob Bajak

Stephen’s Ministry Dan Stahl

Stephen Ministers have been called

and trained to come along side

and care for those in need. If you know of someone experiencing a hard time and could use a

Stephen Minister to come alongside them on their journey, contact: Dan Stahl (716-655-3349) or Sue Cox (716-652-6835) or Karen Tanner (716-912-5441)

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:11 ESV)

A Merry Christmas to all, A Merry Christmas to all, A Merry Christmas to all, A Merry Christmas to all,

from your Stephen Ministry Team!from your Stephen Ministry Team!from your Stephen Ministry Team!from your Stephen Ministry Team!

BLOOD MOBILE Gloria Potzler

A big thank you to Gloria for all her work with the blood drives this year. Blood Drive 2017 dates are:

January 4 March 1 May 3 July 5 September 6

So mark your calendars and let you friends, family and co-workers know about this need.

Thank you Church for your outpouring of love for

our homeless brothers and sisters, ages 2 to 80!

Your caring is overwhelming but not surprising.

Love, from your Deacons

SundaySundaySundaySunday MondayMondayMondayMonday TuesdayTuesdayTuesdayTuesday WednesdayWednesdayWednesdayWednesday

8:15 and 11:00am Church

9:15am Faith Cafe

9:30am Sunday School

1 1 6:30pm Missions Team Meeting

2 10:00am Prayer Group Meeting 7:00 Choir Practice

4 8:15 and 11:00am Church

9:15am Faith Cafe


5

6

6:30pm Missions Team Meeting

7 10:00am Prayer Group Meeting 7:00 Choir Practice

11 8:15 and 11:00am Church


12

13

6:30pm Trustees Meeting 6:30pm Missions Team Christmas Party

14

10:00am Prayer Group Meeting

7:00pm Choir Practice

18 8:15 and 11:00am Church 9:30am Sunday School

19

7:00pm Women’s Group Mtg

20

6:30pm Missions Team Meeting

21



25

8:15 and 11:00am Church


26 27 6:30pm Missions Team Meeting

28 10:00am Prayer Group Meeting 7:00pm Choir Practice

December

2:00pm—Blood Mobile

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him

Immanuel” - which means, “God with us”. Matthew 1:23

10:00 am Service

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

12:15pm Budget Meeting

6:00pm Women’s Christmas Party

7:00pm Sunday School Christmas Pageant

WednesdayWednesdayWednesdayWednesday ThursdayThursdayThursdayThursday FridayFridayFridayFriday SaturdaySaturdaySaturdaySaturday


7:00 Choir Practice

1 6:30pm Confirmation Class 7:00pm Stephen Ministry

2

3 8:00am Elder’s Meeting 9:00-11:00am Knitting Group 5:00pm Saturday Service


7:00 Choir Practice

8

6:30pm Confirmation Class

9

10 7:00am Men’s Breakfast 9:00-11:00am Knitting Group 5:00pm Saturday Service



15

9:30am—11:15am MOPS

6:30pm Confirmation Class

7:00pm Stephen Ministry

16

17 9:00am Deacons' Meeting 9:00-11:00am Knitting Group

5:00pm Saturday Service



22 No Confirmation Class

23

24



29 No Confirmation Class

30 31 9:00-11:00am Knitting Group

December

—7:00pm Blood Mobile

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him

11:00am Christmas Pageant Practice & Jesus’ Birthday Party

7pm Carolcade

7:00pm & 11:00pm

Christmas Eve

Service

7:00pm

New Year’s Eve

Service

12 december 2016 monthly star(1) -...

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