The Messenger

First & Wesley United Methodist Church

89 Center Street West Haven, Connecticut 06516

203-933-8795

December 2015

Happy New Year! I hear you saying, “Pastor, you need to wait for one more month.” Yes, you are right. However,

according to the Christian calendar we are in the beginning of the year. We Christians begin a new year with

Advent, when we are waiting and preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ. On the other hand, we are at the end of

the calendar year, December. We have only one month left in the year 2015. So, our thoughts turn quite naturally

toward endings and new beginnings.

I am recalling the past eleven months, during which I had a lot of happy moments and some sad moments, success

and failure, encouragement and discouragement. Now that it is the last month of the year, I am thinking of how to

finish this year. How can I have a happy ending to the year 2015? At the same time, in Advent I am thinking of

how to begin a new Christian year faithfully. We Christians are lucky because we experience the ending and the

beginning of the year simultaneously.

It is as if we experience night and at the same time morning. What do we have to do at night? We should sleep to

have another good day. Before going to sleep, we wash ourselves and put on our night clothes, and as Christians,

we give thanks to God for guiding us during the day and to ask for God’s continual guidance for the next day. This

is what we have to do in December, the last month of the year.

What do we do in the morning? Once awake we need to clean up for the day. One of the first duties of each day is

to cleanse ourselves. Then, we look in the closet and put on our clothes. If we are meeting a very important person,

we put on our best clothes. This is what we have to do during Advent while waiting for the baby Jesus.

At the last month of the year 2015 I am thinking about how to finish this year well and at the beginning of the

Christian year, I am thinking about how to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ. I pray that you have a good

ending in December and at the same time a good beginning in Advent.

In Christ,

Sungmu Lee

Lectionary Readings for December 2015

December 6, 2015 Baruch 5:1-9 or Malachi 3:1-4 • Luke 1:68-79 • Philippians 1:3-11 • Luke 3:1-6

December 13, 2015 Zephaniah 3:14-20 • Isaiah 12:2-6 • Philippians 4:4-7 • Luke 3:7-18

December 20, 2015 Micah 5:2-5a • Luke 1:46b-55 or Psalm 80:1-7 • Hebrews 10:5-10 • Luke 1:39-45, (46-55)

December 27, 2015 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 • Psalm 148 • Colossians 3:12-17 • Luke 2:41-52

PRAYER GROUP

Will be meeting on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at Richard and Thelma Reid's home at 101 Bellevue Avenue, West Haven (203)934 6487. If YOU would like to join with us please come that day and plan to have time for fellowship, meditation and time for prayer. We start at 10:00 AM and over at noon time.

* * * * * * * * * Every year we say that we are going to cut back, simplify, and have a family Christmas that focuses on the real reason for the season -Jesus. But every year advertisements beckon, the children plead and it seems easier just to indulge our wants and whims. Overspending, overeating, materialism, and busyness rob us of our peace and joy and rob Jesus of his right-full role as the center of our celebration. This Christmas cut through the hype that leaves you exhausted and broke at the end of the year. Instead, experience the peace of knowing that God is truly with us, the joy of giving sacrificially and the love of a Savior who gave everything He had for us.

CONDOLENCES

On behalf of the Lawson and Albinger families, I would like to thank everyone from F&WWUMC-WH that came to Marlene’s wake and funeral last month and for the many that sent us cards and messages during this very difficult

time of Marlene’s illness and passing. Your support is heartwarming and appreciated by all of us. Many thanks, Ralph P. Lawson, III

~ December 2015 ~

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 Prayer Group 10am-Noon

101 Bellevue Ave

Junior Choir 5:15 – 6:00pm

Trustees Meeting

7:00pm

2

Bible Study 7:30pm

3 Church Café

10am

Bell Choir 6pm

Adult Choir 7pm

4

5 Free

Community Breakfast with

Santa 8:00am to 11:00am

6 Sunday School 9:15am

Services 10:30am

Coffee Hour 11:30am

Church Council Meeting

Noon to 1:00pm

Confirmation Class 4:30pm

7

8

Finance Committee

7:30pm

Junior Choir 5:15 – 6:00pm

9

Bible Study 7:30pm

10 Church Café

10am

Bell Choir 6pm

Adult Choir

7pm

11

12

Done In A Day: Mission

Work

13 Sunday School

9:15am

Services 10:30am

Coffee Hour 11:30am

Confirmation Class 4:30pm

14

Mission & Outreach 7:00pm

15

Junior Choir 5:15 – 6:00pm

16

Bible Study 7:30pm

17 Church Café

10am

Bell Choir 6pm

Adult Choir 7pm

18 Special

Olympics

19

20 Sunday School

9:15am

Services 10:30am

Coffee Hour 11:30am

21

22

Junior Choir 5:15 – 6:00pm

23

No Bible Study

24

Christmas Eve Service

25

Christmas Day

6:00AM

26

27 Sunday School

9:15am

Services 10:30am

Coffee Hour 11:30am

28 29

Junior Choir 5:15 – 6:00pm

30

No Bible Study

31

New Year’s Eve

Happy

New Year

Missions and Outreach

On Wednesday, November 18, 24 Thanksgiving "baskets" were delivered to our Covenant to Care social worker Lisa Fryer. Her clients and their families, in the Milford-West Haven area, will certainly enjoy the meals that First & Wesley provided! On Saturday, November 21, 16-18 enthusiastic workers painted the inside, and cleaned up the outside of a home in Milford that was damaged during Hurricane Sandy 3years ago. This group included some volunteers from the University of New Haven and most of our young confirmands. This was part of the Conference's "Done in a Day" program. Our Covenant to Care social worker has provided us with the annual holiday "wish lists" from her clients. Please choose an "ornament" from the tree on Sunday, November 29. Write your name next to the corresponding number on the list on the table. Then return the wrapped gift, with the "ornament" attached, no later than Sunday, December 13. On Sundays, December 6 and 13, we will hold our annual Alternative Christmas Market. You may donate to the following charities and honor friends and relatives: Heifer International, World Service of the United Methodist Church, W.H.E.A.T., Project Hope, Beth El Shelter, and the Pharmacy Fund of the Hill Health Center. We continue to collect coins for the Native American. Our next meeting will be held at 7pm on Monday, January 11. Everyone is welcome. If you have a project that you are interested in, please mention it to any member of the committee: Becky Baker, Joe DelFranco, Rev. Cynthia Dodd, Gail Bartozzi, Laurie Simone, Mary Levy, Courtney Skipper, Nana Amos, Myrna Clinton, or Chris Latham. Thank you your generosity during 2015, which demonstrates our love of Christ through our service to all of His children!!

My first Christmas

I have many wonderful memories connected to December 25th. Childhood anticipation. Gatherings of Loved ones. Wonderful presents. The thrill of riding around town looking at everyone’s lights and decorations. The beauty of the Center in times long gone. Our Green being flooded for ice skating. Holiday movies. Fantastic treats. Ribbon candy. Santa Claus ice cream. An endless parade of the indulgence of the holiday season. There is one Christmas season that connected me to the true meaning of the holiday more than any other. I was probably 11 or 12 and actively involved with the church youth group at Wesley Methodist on Howard Avenue in New Haven. Two special events opened a new world for me. First the youth group went around the neighborhood singing Christmas carols outside the home of older church members and shut-ins. It was freezing cold but it made me feel very warm inside. That same year I was picked to play one of the three wise men in the Christmas Pageant. I had a brown robe and a gold paper crown. Very few word but I still have the faded Polaroid that my grandfather took of me in costume. My family always made sure I went to church but this time they all came as well and I learned how special this day is to everyone as I stood before the congregation recreating the story of the birth of Jesus. I’ll never forget it. Bill Hunt

“DONE IN A DAY”

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. (James 2:14-17) Faith in action. This is what James is talking about in the passage above. In order for us to love as Christ taught us, many times we have to lend a helping hand to those in need. We had the most wonderful opportunity to do this the week before Thanksgiving for a needy neighbor in Milford through the NYAC “Done in a Day” (DIAD) program. A team of 16, including three students from UNH who have never met

us and most of the confirmands that are new in their faith journeys, set out early on a Saturday morning to lend a hand to a victim of Hurricane Sandy. The house we worked on was entirely destroyed three years ago by the flood waters, and it left the homeowner without her home. She has had to pay the mortgage for an unlivable home while renting a tiny 600 square foot apartment with her sister and children for the last three years. Before renovations could even start, the house had to be raised due to the new laws about homes on the waterfront. This was an out-of-pocket expense of well over $100,000 for the homeowner. Our team arrived at the house after it had been raised, reframed, fitted with electrical and plumbing, and sheet-rocked. It was our task to completely primer all the walls and ceilings of the 1400 square foot house, as well as clear the 3 year overgrowth of brush, weeds and debris from the property. It was a daunting task, but we prayed that the Holy Spirit would strengthen and sustain us throughout the day. It was a joyous day in which we were able to strengthen relationships, grow in our own faith, pray for healing for the family, and watch our efforts truly transform a home. We prayed that not only would the property be physically changed during our efforts, but that God would fill the space with hope and grace so that the homeowner could see Jesus through us. Through tears, the homeowner told us she was completely overwhelmed by our generosity and that she knew that she would be paying it forward the first chance she got. God is good, even when it seems the bleakest. Our light was able to brighten someone’s day all because we put our faith in action. Stay tuned for more information as to how we can help the victims of Hurricane Sandy. Our site coordinator, Susan Shaw, says that the need is still great. I pray that First and Wesley can continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus throughout this community and the world. Becky Baker, Lay Leader and Team Coordinator for DIAD

December Birthdays

3 - Diane Soars 5 - Judy Juzwiakowski 8 - Hannah Cascio Shirley Henrie 10 – Bill Hunt 11 - Lisa Ammon Tom Mark Jennifer Skipper 12 - Brianna Krinsky 17 - Michele Sablone 18 - Matt Heafy 20 - Ann Soule 21 - Mark Cascio Isaiah Singeton 23 - Joyce Hofschild 30 - Florence Dzikas 31 - Gina Scalise Ella Kozlowski Cindy Krinsky

December Anniversaries 3 - Peggy and Jim Jerrell 11 - Helen and Dave Smith 16 - Becky and Tom Baker 18 - Judy and Richard Wetmore 19 - Vera and Edward Marshall 27 - Linda and Dennis Kopec

If you would like to include someone for birthdays or anniversaries please see below. Example- name change, address change, marriage, birth, death, etc.

Email: firstwesleyumc@gmail.com or send to church office.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Articles for the January Newsletter are due by December 20th. Please mark your calendars.

EVERYONE IS A REPORTER If you give me the- who, what, when, where and why, I will write your article for you. Email to dollar.signs@snet.net or call 203-932-1727 and leave a message. Please send me your email address to speed up delivery of the newsletter.

Thank you, Bill Hunt

Pastors Discretionary Fund: Please consider giving a “Love Offering” to Pastor’s

discretionary fund. You may place your gift in the container on the back table of the sanctuary. If you wish to write check to the church, please write “Pastor’s

Discretionary Fund” in the memo section. Tell us if you have a member information change: example- name change, address change, marriage, birth, death, etc. Email: firstwesleyumc@gmail.com or send to church office.

Order Your Poinsettias

I (We) wish to order Poinsettia Plant(s) for the Altar at a cost of $11.00 each. Please make checks payable to First & Wesley United Methodist Church and write “flower fund” in the memo section on the check.

IN MEMORY OF

OR IN HONOR OF

Given by

Telephone #

Taking plant(s) home

Plants to be given to shut-in

Orders must be received by Sunday, December 14 Please leave form in offering plate or hand to Mary Ann Hawkes (203-933-1958)

A Huge Thank You

I want to thank everyone who helped work on this year’s fair. It’s a huge job and takes lots of folks to

make it a success. I want to start with Friday morning baking. We started at 8:00 and had everything baked by 1:00. I want to thank Peggy Jerrell, Ann Yost, Beth Ammon, and MaryAnn Hawkes for all their hard work making the pies and breads and Kathy Hulse for supplying lunch for us all. A big thank you to all those that worked on the Fair on Saturday: Joe DelFranco and Jim Stuhlman for doing the flipping for the pancake breakfast, Ralph Lawson for stirring all those bowls of batter, Wendy Memmott selling the tickets and Arlyn Memmott and Emma Franson for keeping the plates moving out of the kitchen. Sue McMillian and Jim Ammon did a great job keeping the tables clean and set in the dining room. Beth Ammon, Rachael Memmott, and Phyllis Hunt did a wonderful job on the plants and thanks to Joyce Hofschild for starting all those plants. Kathy Hulse did a great job on the craft booth and Mary Hickman and Judy Jannette for the wonderful job they did on the jewelry booth; Mary Kiesinger for manning the cookie walk (we received tons of cookies and a big thank you to all those who baked); Chris Latham for handling the baked goods table (it looked wonderful seeing all the great homemade baked goods), Dave, Helen, and Cindy Smith for doing a great job on the luncheon with the help of Derek, Steven, Gregory Baker and Garrett Argentino keeping the food moving out. As always, the food was wonderful and Dave’s chili was again a big

hit. A big thank you to Kim and Pat Cartright for handling the tag sale. It’s a tedious job to price all the

“treasures” that are in the gym and then spend the day

selling it all. Also to Judy Juzwiakowski and Kathy Hulse who help me unload all those boxes. To Jacki McKim for all her work collecting the money from all the booths and then she and Beth Ammon counting at the end of the day. A tedious task and they did a wonderful job. Our total as of now is $2,643. This was a wonderful success and I can’t thank everyone

enough. I hope I have not left anyone out and if I have a thank you to you also. May God Bless and thanks, Linda Memmott

Community Breakfast with Santa

Saturday, December 5, 2015

8:00am – 11:00am

Breakfast is free and open to all!

First & Wesley United Methodist Church

89 Center Street, West Haven, CT 06516

Youth Group ~ Come and Join! We have a great group of kids who meet every week for fellowship, to learn more about Christ and to do Christ's work in our community and world. During December we will be participating in 3 different mission projects. We will meet on Dec. 6th at 6:00 pm for a game night and planning meeting. On December 13th we will be going to Connecticut Post Mall for lunch and a mall scavenger hunt. Our next meeting after that will be on January 10th at 6:00 pm

Youth Choir

Anyone in 1st grade and up is welcome! We sing once a month and after we sing we watch a video of the last time we sang while eating donuts. If you would like to join us, come on Tuesday night, 5:15-6:00 PM. We hope you can come! Youth choir will rehearse on: December 1 at 5:15 pm December 8 at 5:15 pm December 15 at 5:15 pm - Christmas party They will be singing on Dec. 13th in church and also at the Christmas Eve service.

Coffee Hour

Laura Cole is always looking for kind hearted souls to take a turn at serving coffee after church. Meet your friends to chat in a relaxed atmosphere.

Sunday School

“God promises to be with us.” This was the theme

for the Deep Blue Sunday School classes in October. Sunday school children have heard and read bible stories about Abraham, Sarah, Lot, Isaac, and Rebekah and God’s promises to them. The Submerge classroom has been reading Bible stories from the books of Genesis, Exodus and Judges. Some of the stories are “Abraham and Lot

Separate,” “Jacob and Esau,” and “Joseph

interprets dreams.” They are tackling issues such

as resolving conflicts, confronting rivalries, and using our talents.

Fundraiser

Just a reminder that Dave Smith is selling Stop and Shop cards to members and friends of First and Wesley. Whether for buying groceries or to give as a gift, as an added bonus, you can earn 1 Stop & Shop gas reward for every $1 spent on gift cards. It is hard to believe that more people don’t

take advantage of this marvelous way to raise money for the church. If you buy a gift card from Dave Smith you get the full face value at the register and Stop & Shop sends a percentage to the church. It couldn’t be

simpler and it doesn’t cost you a dime. So far this year the church has raised over $2,000.

Pennies From Heaven The Native American Penny Collection is ongoing to provide very much needed food and fuel. Please help the Sunday school students by giving them your loose change each week to support those in need.

Laura Cole is looking for volunteers to give the children’s message. If you have ever felt that you

have something of value to share with them this is your opportunity. She will have a sign-up sheet available just like coffee hour. Everyone has wisdom to share or a message of faith inside them. Think about yours and contact Laura

This is "the rest of the story" which was started in Dec 2014--the bikers who rode across the country to raise $ for mental health, which you included in the Dec newsletter. We would like to thank all of the church members who so generously contributed. From: Marcy Hotchkiss

Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:11 PM To: Cynthia Dodd

Subject: RE: Emailing - Messenger ~ December 2014.pdf

Hi Cynthia: Then final amount they gave was $964. That was all donations less the service fee the crowd funding site charged. It would be great to know if anyone at your church did contribute. Thanks. Marcy Hotchkiss Director, Fund Development & Communications 203.878.6365 ext. 359 http://www.bridgesct.org From: Cynthia Dodd

Sent: Tuesday, November 10, 2015 4:00 PM To: Marcy Hotchkiss

Subject: Emailing - Messenger ~ December 2014.pdf

Hi Marcy—on the last page of our Messenger, last Dec, we put in the blurb about the Bridges cross country bike ride for mental health that the two college guys did last year. I would like to put in a follow up article about the funds raised by the bikers, but I deleted the email you sent with the check total—somewhere around $400.00? Could you send me the amount so I can do the follow up for anyone at our church who might have contributed? Thanks! Cynthia

Prayer Shawl Ministry Prayer Shawl meets the second Tuesday of every month at the home of Chris McGregor or Linda Kopec. If you would like to give a shawl to someone, please see one of the members: Linda Kopec, MaryAnn Hawkes, Edith Mulligan, Sue McMillian, Sharon Ewen or Chris McGregor. Alternately, there are blessed shawls in the church office as well as letters to go with them and gift bags. If you take one, please leave a note with the name of the recipient. If you don't knit but would like to be part of this ministry, we would be happy to accept donations toward the purchase of yarn. If you would like to choose the yarn yourself, three skeins of Lion Brand Homespun are needed for each shawl. Thank you!

Kid’s Page

The Messenger First & Wesley United Methodist Church 89 Center Street West Haven, CT 06516 Phone (203) 933-8795 www.firstwesleyumc.org Email: firstwesleyumc@gmail.com Reverend Lee Sunday School 9:15 Sunday Worship Times: 10:30 a.m.

Bible Study: Wednesday 7:30 p.m. The December Newsletter