Church Meetings:

• 65^th Annual Meeting - Sunday January 20^th - following worship-The 65^th Annual Meeting of the Corporation and Congregation of the United Church of Warsaw will take place on Sunday, January 20^th immediately following worship. Please have all necessary Annual Reports submitted to the church office no later than Friday, January 11^th.

Board Of Benevolence News Update:

Updates:

Look at what we were able to do together!

Ø      $500 was contributed to our blanket fund, which means 100 blankets will be distributed around the world to people in distress because of the generosity of the United Church of Warsaw!

Ø      The free-will offering for our Thanksgiving provided $388.28 for the campership fund.

Ø      Because the weather did not cooperate for our brunch on December 2, we earned less than $100. The profit from the brunch will be put towards purchasing the kitchen hood. Cooks Bob Blake, Bill Cran, Steve Meyers and Steve Perkins prepared a delicious buffet, while many others provided the baked goods, set up the dining room, waited tables and cleaned up.  Jim Carter gets the “bitter end” award, although Bob Blake gets “the early riser, you need to go home award.” Thank you!!

Cookies and Caroling: Dozens of cutout Christmas cookies were baked and decorated by adults and members of the youth group. Thanks to Bob Blake, Betty James, Deb Baker and Hugh TenHagen for their supervision and hard work and to the young people who decorated pieces of art! About 15 members of the congregation surprised 21 shut-ins and others, along with the Cloisters, East Side, and SNF at the hospital with beautiful Christmas hymns and songs as platters of yummy cookies were delivered to them. Thank you to all who made cookies, helped pack them, drove and sang! From the stories told upon the carolers  

Ø      return for hot cocoa and cookies, everyone benefited from spreading Christmas cheer!

• Thank you to everyone who provided books, hats and gloves or mittens for the Head Start children and siblings during the White Gift service. $129.00 was donated for Benevolence distribution, and $746.00 has been collected thus far for Heifer International. If you want to contribute to either of these collections, please bring your donation to the office.
• Benevolence sent monetary Christmas gifts to Cloisters, Community Action, Crossroads, East Side, Kirkhaven (Rochester Presbyterian), SNF, and the Teresa House. Money was also donated to StarBurst and to the Furnace Fund.
• Success!! The Furnace Fund now contains $1,995.00!
• Two very brave members of our congregation-Mary Rase and Barb Meyer- have volunteered to help clean and inventory the kitchen in January. A few more hardy souls are needed before we set the date. Any takers? Call George Ann Carter (786-2169) to volunteer.

Coming Events:

February 10: Hearts for Honduras Collection:  Jim Carter’s sister, Judy Toner, who reported to us about this mission project (part of the UCC) last year leaves for Honduras the last 2 weeks in February. She will take the money we collect for many on-going projects.

The Results Are In!

When asked the following questions, your responses were as follows:

The United Church of Warsaw will celebrate its 200^th year on Sunday July 13^th, 2008. Lynn Saxton and Suzenne Miller are working on a celebration of this momentous event.

1. Would you be willing to serve on a committee to plan and implement the celebration?

                                    Yes: 20  No: 4

2. Are there family mementos such as photographs, old programs, directories etc. of historical significance to the church that you would be willing to loan for the celebration?

                                    Yes: 4   No: 8

3. Would you be willing to share your written or oral memories of the church to be included in the celebration?

                                    Yes: 8    No: 3

4. Would you be willing to be part of a creative “Ken Burns” style church documentary?

                                    Yes:4    No: 3

Comments:

” Please start the committee planning in January.”

” I would like to see a picture/ history book for a fund raiser. I think there are pictures in the church.”

 

The Results are In!

When asked the following questions, you replied:

1. I would like to receive the church newsletter:

Quarterly:         Once per month: 40      Twice per month: 3

2. Instead of receiving a paper newsletter, I would rather read the newsletter on the church website:

Yes:     3                      No: 40

3. Regarding the announcements made during the church service, please check all the responses that you agree with:

• The announcements are an important part of building community in our church family, and should take as long as they take: 23
• The announcements are an important part of building community in our church family, but currently take up too much worship time. They can be contained by doing one/some of the following: 18
  • All announcements must be written down and read by the liturgist, not given by individuals: 4
  • Announcements can be given by a variety of individuals who come forward and are seated in the chancel prior to the start of worship, and have a specific time limit for the announcement: 19
  • The announcement time is moved to 5 minutes prior to worship starting: 6
  • The announcement time is moved to the end of the service: 3

4. It is important to me that worship service finishes within 60 minutes:

            Yes:     8                      No: 34

5.We plan to make a new church photo directory in 2008. The best time for the photographs to be taken is:

Winter-we get a better deal:      26        Spring-better weather:  13

Early September brings that hint of change as the relaxed pace of summer gives way to the more structured time of fall. School is back in session, and here at the church, the buildings burst into life as Head Start and Starburst resume their activities, and the glorious sound of children fills every nook and cranny. Regrettably, the Food Pantry didn’t have any ?down-time? this summer, as demand for its services was at an all-time high. It faithfully continues with its ministry of compassionate care season after season. The WIC program brought a steady stream of families through our doors throughout the summer, which will surely continue into the fall. What a blessing to see these buildings utilized for the glory of God through our ministry of education, care and hospitality!

The coming of fall also heralds the start of some new activities for our Church Family activities which will help us build our sense of identity, and strengthen us for the ministry God calls us to here in Warsaw. The first change involves one of the priorities you set when you searched for your new pastor: Welcome new families into the church, and increase the involvement of children and youth in the life of the church. We will do this in two ways, both of which build on those beautiful words in the book of Proverbs: “Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray.” (Proverbs 22: 6). Or, in the words of the oft-quoted African proverb: “It takes a village to raise a child.”
The fourth Sunday of each month is now designated “Family Sunday.” On that Sunday, the worship service will specifically be designed so that all-ages will be included in the service, with children and youth actively participating in the worship experience. Consequently there is no Sunday School on that Sunday, as we will instead worship together as a church family. The children will learn to be part of the worshipping community (instead of only having an allegiance to Sunday School), their teachers will have the Sunday to be in worship, and the adults will be blessed with presence of the children, who are often our greatest teachers. I hope to involve the youth in the leadership of these services so that they have a meaningful role in planning and leading worship here in the church.

The second change is a simple one. Once Sunday School begins on September 9th, the entire church family will join together for fellowship after worship and Sunday School. The current pattern of the children and young people remaining in the Sunday School area until after fellowship time will cease. Instead, once Sunday School reaches its natural conclusion, the children and young people will proceed to the East Room so the church family can share fellowship and refreshment together. This will allow our children and young people to be part of the family and learn from all the adults in the church, and also allow the Sunday School teachers to participate in the fellowship that is such an important part of church life. Since we are a “village” working together to raise our children, the parents of the children will still be able to enjoy fellowship, knowing that there are many other adults here to help watch the children! We can all work together, for the glory of God, and the well-being of everyone the family here at the United Church.

I hope these changes help with one other challenge that is facing the Sunday School this year the recruitment of teachers. We already have a strong “team” of four men who will be teaching our older children (and because they are a team, they will be sharing the responsibilities and thus be able to be in church more often, etc). But we still need teachers for our younger ones perhaps another team to share the joy of working with our children. When 2-4 people come together as a team, the teaching responsibility becomes a joy shared among friends, and our children gain the gift of excellent role models and an inspired Sunday School experience that always feels fresh. Can you respond to this opportunity and challenge?

You will read of many other opportunities for our church family to come together in a variety of different ways Bible Study and prayer, fellowship through games and activities including dancing, and service. All of these different opportunities strengthens our bonds as a family, and encourages us in our ministry.

After all, that is what it is all about. We are not here just to take up space in the middle of Warsaw. We are not here to just keep these beautiful buildings in good repair and keep our cherished history and traditions in tact much like one keeps a museum or art gallery in perfect order, free from change or alteration. We are the Body of Christ, living and breathing, and called to ministry NOW. Respectful of our past and with our eye on the horizon, we do all that we can to live and grow NOW in the way God is calling us to grow. And we are blessed to be able to do that here as a family the United Church family.

What an exciting time to be part of the church. NOW!

With love and prayer,
Kim