Here is our latest information!
Dates to Remember:
January 6 Communion Service
January 13 Special Congregational Meeting after worship
January 13 Carry-In Dinner after meeting
January 15 Fellowship of Hope – 10:30 a.m.
January 20 Installation of New Consistory Members during worship
January 22 Consistory, 6 p.m.
January 25 Game Night, 6 p.m.
January 27 Book Club after worship
NOTICE OF SPECIAL CONGREGATIONAL MEETING
There will be a Special Congregational Meeting on *January 13, 2019 immediately following the regular Sunday service for the following purposes:
- To amend the Constitution of Ebenezer – Hope United Church of Christ of DeSoto Cemetery, Article III, Cemetery Policy, Sentence Two to read as follows:
“Elected persons are to be members of the church, or a spouse or direct descendent of a member of Hope UCC who is interred at said Cemetery, with no more than one non-church member serving at any one time, and shall not receive pay for their services.”
- To elect members to serve on the 2019 Cemetery Board, by Carol Stoll or Neasha Herscher.
- Brief informational talk on Church emergency preparedness.
*This meeting shall be held the following Sunday, January 20, 2019 if church services on January 13, 2019 are canceled due to inclement weather.
Pastor’s Corner
A new year is more than a change of calendars; it’s a new beginning—or at least it can be for those who are willing to seize the opportunity. The English writer Hilaire Belloc wrote:
From quiet hours and first beginning,
out to the undiscovered ends,
there’s nothing worth the wear of winning,
but laughter and the love of friends.
Striving to win is not wrong unless we are wearing ourselves out attempting to win the wrong things. Instead of striving to win what the world calls “success,” Belloc advises striving to win the “laughter and the love of friends.”
True friendship is a rare gift to win in today’s world. Friendship requires what some might call “wasting time;” when simply being with a friend, we aren’t getting work and chores and activities completed; we’re “simply being.” Too often we don’t take time to “simply be” with friends—or with God…gotta get this that and the other thing done first!
While we often use the word “friend” to describe acquaintances, the word should imply a deep sort of communion with another person. Among certain African tribes, when two friends ended a relationship, it required a formal ritual of divorce by the whole tribe. True friendships were not to be walked away from or allowed to atrophy. Primitive people often had a deeper understanding of what’s important in life than we do!
Jesus had a profound respect for friendship. His use of the word implies a sacred bond in friendships. Friendship is not to be trivialized; it is to be fostered even if it means “wasting time” with another for no other purpose than to honor the relationship.
A new year can be a fresh beginning, or it can be nothing more than an extension of the past, where the only thing that changes is the page on a calendar. What better resolution could we make than to deepen our existing friendships with God and one another.
May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
Pastor Audrey
(Article adapted from A Pilgrim’s Almanac. Edward Hays. Forest of Peace Publishing: Leavenworth. 1989. January 1: Something Worth the Wear of Winning. pp. 12-13.)
Fellowship of Hope Notes, December Meeting:
The theme of this meeting was an abbreviated business meeting and an emphasis on the Christmas party.
Thank you for the wonderful donations to our Christmas Project—toys, pajamas, cash, etc. – to donate to the Jefferson County Foster Children’s Holiday Party. The organizers were extremely appreciative of the donations, as they prepared to treat the 675 foster children in Jefferson County.
As announced last month, Karen Newell won the quilt raffle. However, she responded that she wanted to support our activity but really did not need another quilt. She generously donated it back to us, and the new winner was a very excited Judy Hoeft. She bought her ticket at the Craft Festival at Washington State Park.
A heads up! We will again sponsor the canned soup collection ending on “Souper” Bowl Sunday in February, so be watching for good specials on canned soup.
Now for the fun stuff! The nine of us in attendance enjoyed conversation and just wonderful fellowship as we indulged in delicious pizza and Christmas cookies. As we all know, we have wonderful bakers in our church family, so we all left with a tin full of an assortment of tasty Christmas cookies.
Our next meeting will be January 15 at 10:30 a.m., and we hope to see you there.
Consistory Notes, November Meeting:
A special thank you goes out to the Kramer Family for their generous donation of the Nativity scene on our church grounds. The December Consistory meeting said goodbye to members Ken Heimburger, Karen Newell, and Joan Ellis although Joan will remain the Financial Reporting Secretary in a non-voting position. The 2019 Consistory officers and members are:
a. Barb Davis – President
b. Dave Zaring – Vice President
c. Kevin Ahern – Treasurer
d. Judy Dennert – Recording Secretary
e. Rickie Ellis – Voting Member
f. Werner Stichling – Voting Member
Book Club:
On January 27th we will discuss “Condominium” by John D. MacDonald after worship, please join us for lunch (BYO) and a lively discussion!
Final Friday Game Night:
Join us for fun, fellowship, games, and snacks on Friday January 25th at 6pm in Fellowship Hall. Bring your favorite game, a snack to share, and be a part of our usual crazy evening!
Need Prayers?
Hope Church has a Prayer Circle of five people who will lift prayers for a particular person or a troubling situation. We shall pray for the highest good. We do not need specific details, just a name or a general situation. At this point there are no restrictions of requests. To receive prayers for yourself or for a person/situation important to you, please call Pastor Audrey and she will activate the prayer circle for you.
***Please do not rely on the grapevine if you need pastoral care.***
If you are admitted to the hospital, or if you need pastoral care for any reason, please contact Pastor Audrey directly or designate a person to contact her directly. Please do not rely on the grapevine to get information to her. She cannot act on grapevine information, and sometimes the information doesn’t reach her at all.
Some Reminders & Invitations…
- Have a favorite CD you would like played as our pre-service music? Please contact Pastor to set a date for your music to be played. Pre-service CD music is played from 10-10:30
- The Citizens’ Committee for Flood Relief meets on the second Monday of each month at 6:30pm at DeSoto Public Library on Main St.
Don’t forget to give God thanks for your many blessings, to ask for forgiveness for your shortcomings, to implore God to bring peace to the world, to ask for equality and justice for all people in all things, to remember those less fortunate, to ask for guidance in doing God’s will!