join us sundays @ 9:30 & 11am watch our past services
TRANSCRIPT
Andover UMC To create and nurture a passionate faith community through open doorways to Christ.
December 2021
andoverfirstumc
Join us Sundays @ 9:30 & 11am Watch our past services anytime on our website.
Website: www.andoverfirstumc.org / Follow us on Facebook: andoverfirstumc Email: [email protected] / Phone: (440) 293-6290
Pastoral Team: Rev. Paige Boyer & Pastor Jason Hockran
This year for Advent and Christmas we are inviting you to “Come Home for Christmas” as we move from the waiting of Advent to the celebration of Christmas. It has me thinking about home and what it means to me. I have a bit of a fluid relationship with the concept of “home.” I’ve lived in enough places as a kid that I don’t have deep roots anywhere. During my early elementary years, my family lived in Switzerland before we moved to Hudson, Ohio where I lived through high school graduation. When I was a college student, my parents moved from that house to one in Aurora. And after college, I moved to Akron, then Stow, then Aurora and then Cleveland over the course of about 8 years. Eventually, my parents sold the house in Aurora to live full-time in Florida. Now my dad splits his time between Northern Michigan and Southern California. My siblings also left the area after college – my sister to Washington and my brother to Michigan, Indiana and before landing in Philadelphia. After living in Cleveland, I moved to Chicago for seminary before returning to Northeast Ohio in my first appointment. So, home for me isn’t really a place you can pinpoint on a map. Broadly speaking, geographically, my home is Northeast Ohio or Greater Cleveland. Spiritually, my relationship with home is also complicated. According to our annual conference and the ordination process, my “home” is Lakewood UMC. But that is not the church that formed and raised me in my faith – that would be Hudson UMC. I call Hudson the church I grew up in, even if Lakewood is the church that launched me into ministry. And beyond that, I’ve attended several other United Methodist churches in our conference. So, again, broadly speaking my spiritual home is the United Methodist Church, in East Ohio. As I was considering the concept of home, I was fortunate enough to be able to take some time away to see my twin sister in Washington. While I was gone, a few friends checked in on me and asked how I was doing. In response, I shared that being with my twin was like being with the other half of myself. In many ways, my sister – and my dad and brother – are home, regardless of where we are. For me, “home” is also the place and the community where I live at any given time – and at the same time, “home” is the people with whom I have history, the people who know me better than I know myself including my biological family and my chosen one, the people with whom I can be fully and deeply authentic. Home is a complex concept for lots of us – it’s a flexible idea to identify the places where we are most comfortable. As we think about Coming Home for Christmas, this church – the people and the place – are the home we want to welcome you to. This home in a place where we connect with the one who knows all of our stories, our experiences and our beliefs, the one who made a home among humanity in Jesus Christ and the one who calls us to make our homes with one another as we journey with Christ in this life. We invite you to Come Home to Andover UMC this Christmas. We hope you’ll join us!
Prayers and Concerns: Carol Baumgardner health concerns Angie Clute healing - Covid Sheila Clute healing - Covid Skip Eidam cancer treatments Barb Fusselman healing Donna Hall healing Kyle Isenberg health concerns Judy Koberna healing & recovery Henry & Linda Lipps health concerns Larry Loveland healing & recovery Frank Maloney comfort & strength Richard Martin healing Sherie McClure healing Bob McGann healing Brian McGirr healing after surgery Trudy Mills healing & strength with walking Sandra Sturdevant health concerns Joan Smock healing after a fall Cindy Thompson health
Service Men, Women and families: Cristian Aguinaga
Tyler Bean Zak Hazen
Jake Hilliard Lucas Hitchcock John Johnson Andrew Kirby Kevin Kovach
Trenton Krueger Austin Limestoll
Andre McCoy Gavin Meeker
Ron Slater Leah Snell
Jennifer White
December 2021 Prayer List
When we join the United Methodist Church, we take a vow that we will be, loyal to the United Methodist Church and uphold it by Our Prayers, Our Presence, Our Gifts, Our Service and by Our Witness. Scriptures call us to celebrate
with those who celebrate and to grieve with those who grieve. We grow in connection with one another as we know the praises and concerns of the individual churches and respond in a manner of praise and/or prayer.
Please feel free to share your news that we may share especially the prayer concerns to the faith community.
PRAYER REQUESTS Please submit prayer requests
by calling the church office
(440) 293-6290 or visit our website:
www.andoverfirstumc.org (Contact tab)
You can also email:
Please provide first name, last name
and reason for prayer.
If confidential, let us know & it will be
given to our prayer team only on Tuesdays.
Please update us every 2 weeks.
If you would like a “We Prayed for You” card
sent, please provide their address.
Sun. Dec. 12th
One Worship Service
10am
Join us for the
Children’s Christmas Program
during this service.
DEC. 17TH & 18TH
VOLUNTEER TO RING &
HELP FEED FAMILIES AT:
savolunteer.org (or contact the church office to sign up)
Salvation Army Bell Ringing
Andover Country Neighbor Senior Center
Located in Old Fellowship Hall behind Andover UMC
Open Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday
10am-2pm
If anyone has any questions, call Deb at the senior center at 440-689-0026.
Come join us for lunch and activities!
December Schedule
Thurs., Dec. 9th - Facebook Live Event
“Protect yourself against health care fraud, identity theft & scams”
(Contact the Senior Center for details)
Wed., Dec. 22nd - Holiday Party from 11am-2pm - $5.00 gift exchange
Dec. 23rd & 24th - Closed - Merry Christmas!
Dec. 31st - Closed - Happy New Year!
Have you signed up for your FREE Amplify Media Account yet?
Go to https://my.amplifymedia.com/amplify/register
and use the access code: FRMYTJ to set up your account and get started.
Jesus Girls Small Group Study @ Andover UMC
Large Classroom
Thursdays @ 10:15am
Contact Bev Hanson if interested.
440-293-7890
Advent by J.D. Greear
UMW Faith Circle
Meets monthly on the 2nd Tuesday,
10am @ Andover UMC
in the large classroom.
Contact Margaret Harvey if interested.
814-282-5719
Christmas Celebration in Song
(formerly Living Christmas Tree)
Sun. Dec. 5th
3:30 & 7:30pm
@ Trinity United Methodist Church
240 N. 3rd Street, Conneaut Lake, PA
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
FOR NURSERY &
CHILDREN’S CHURCH
If you’d like to serve in our
Worship & Discipleship
Ministry through the
Nursery or
Children’s Church,
please contact Rev. Paige,
Pastor Jason
or the church office.
Nursery - Pre-K & under
Children’s Church - Kindergarten
through 4th grade
Join us for the
Children’s
Christmas
Program
Sun., Dec. 12th
during a joint
10am worship service.
Winter Unit 1:
Dec. 5th
Mary’s Good News
Luke 1:26-38
Dec. 19th
Jesus’ Birth
Luke 2:1-20
Advent
YMCA classes @ Andover UMC! Silver Sneakers Yoga Stretch
Mondays - 10am
Wednesdays - 11am
Silver Sneakers Classic
Tuesdays & Thursdays - 10am
For more details,
contact Bonnie at the YMCA 440-997-5321
Support Andover UMC through AmazonSmile while you do your shopping at Amazon! Want to help make a difference while you shop in the Amazon app, at no extra cost to you? Simply follow
the instructions below to select "Andover United Methodist Church" as your charity and activate Ama-
zonSmile in the app. They'll donate a portion of your eligible mobile app purchases to us.
How it works:
1. Open the Amazon app on your phone
2. Select the main menu (=) & tap on "AmazonSmile" within Programs & Features
3. Select "Andover United Methodist Church" as your charity
4. Follow the on-screen instructions to activate AmazonSmile in the mobile app
To give your tithes & end of year giving online, please use the following link:
https://andoverfirstumc.org/welcome/give
Andover United Methodist Church
181 South Main St
P.O. Box 207
Andover, OH 44003
Sent with a prayer to:
Outdoor Food Pantry December 10th, 10am-Noon
@ Andover UMC Open to all of those in need
in the PV School District
Outdoor Cleveland Foodbank
December 17th, 10am-Noon @ Andover UMC
Open to all of those in need in Ashtabula County
Free Dinner Friday No Free dinner in December.
Please join us again in January!
Fighting
hunger.
Delivering
hope.
Andover Community Center Open Tues. - Thurs. 10a-2p,
Deb Somerville: 440-689-0026