Happenings || Emmaus United Church of Christ

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Happenings, December 2007

A Message from Reverend Bill

The baby Jesus reminds us of possibility and preciousness.

We are reminded that he is born of Mary, fathered by Joseph, and placed in a manger under a sky filled with stars.

We are reminded that the Christmas Festival can be hosted in our hearts.

How might we mother the Christ? How might we father the Word? What is the connection between the Christmas Star and the orientation of our souls in the sky of spirit?

We will begin to answer these questions this Advent in our sermon series “Mother, Father, & Sky.” As we focus on the birth of the Child, we prepare with great joy to remember the power and the magic of this sacred night.

May the power and the magic of the Christ be with you and yours in this season of expectation and astonishment.

Grace, Peace and Blessings,
Rev. Bill

Worship Schedule

All services begin at 10:30 a.m., unless otherwise noted.

12/2 “Mother, Father, & Sky: Mary, Queen of the Manger,”First Sunday of Advent, Holy Communion

12/9 10:30 am – Choir Concert; 7:30 pm – Service of the White Gifts; Second Sunday of Advent

12/16 “Mother, Father, & Sky: Joseph, Father of the Word,” Third Sunday of Advent

12/23 “Mother, Father, & Sky: The Stars for Light,” Fourth Sunday of Advent

12/24 7:30 pm – Festival Service; 10:30 pm – Candlelight Communion; Christmas Eve

12/30 “Joy, Comfort, & Light,” First Sunday after Christmas

All sermons will be available for downloading.

Spiritual Renewal/Prayer Space

Advent Attitudes and Anticipations
We will begin Advent Season with a look at our mindset as we approach this wonderful time of the Christian year. Our meditation and prayer time will be contemplative. There will be a time for journaling.

We will meet in the Sanctuary on Sunday, December 2, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. For purposes of set-up, please let Boyd or JoAn Post know if you plan to attend.

For your 2008 calendar, make a note that on January 13, 7 – 8 p.m., Spiritual Renewal will ring in the Emmaus New Year with a Tibetan Bowl Ceremony, with the help of the Muhlbach-Neals, the Cardwells, the Posts, and anyone else who might have a Tibetan bowl. Come and get your 2008 vibrations energized!

JoAn and Boyd Post

Christian Education News

A Joyful Celebration!
The children will take a trip around the world this month to discover how other cultures celebrate the birth of Jesus. They’ll also learn about the origins of some of our most treasured traditions and sing along to favorite holiday songs. They may even come home with a decoration or two to adorn their families’ Christmas trees!

Please note: the workshops will not meet on Sunday, December 30th. Instead, the children will gather as one group in the center room for a special New Year’s celebration.

A special thank you to Faye Codding, Joby Warrick, Tom and Sabine Boots, Patti Chronister, and Nancy Scott for leading the November workshops! The children had a wonderful time making trail mix, playing four-square and painting murals. A big thank you also to our wonderful shepherds: Kathy Schweich, Laurie Forbes, Johannah Kendrick, and Meredith Peterson and our Bumblebee teachers – Linda Norell, Wendy Cardany and Teri Beth Wallace.

We are still in need of leaders for our workshops. If you have been a member of Emmaus for six months and would like to volunteer, please contact me or send me an e-mail.

The Junior High class will be decorating the Chrismon tree on Saturday, December 1, at 5 p.m. and enjoying a pizza party following the decoration.

In other news, there will not be a Family Fellowship outing in December. Please check your e-mails for news of January's event. If you don't receive Family Fellowship announcements, please e-mail Anita Bruck and ask that your name be added to the list.

We will also be honoring and thanking Heidi Warrington for her service as Director of Christian Education on December 16 during the service.

Maryanne Warrick

Social Justice Task Force

During the season of Advent, most of us will send or receive many cards bearing the message, “Peace on Earth”. The book of Luke tells us that the angels who heralded Christ’s birth sang this message to wondering shepherds. This Christmas, the UCC’s Collegium of Officers has shown its commitment to active peacemaking by announcing a new phase of its program “100,000 for Peace.”

There are three prongs to the effort. First, the UCC wants to raise funds for the 4 million or more people displaced by the Iraq War – 2 million internally and 2 million who are fleeing to Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. The UCC has pledged to gather $100,000 by January 6, Epiphany and Orthodox Christmas Eve, the time when most Iraqi Christians celebrate Christ’s birth.

Also by January 6, the UCC wants to lift and send more than 100,000 prayers, letters and signs of support to those serving in the military. Third, our denomination is making efforts to deliver the pastoral letter on the Iraq war 100,000 times to the in-district offices of our U.S. Senators and Representatives through local visits, personal letters and telephone calls. From June through October, more than 64,000 UCC members signed this letter and it was personally delivered by UCC President John Thomas to representatives of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and House Minority Leader David Boehner in mid-October.

E-mail or call Laurie Forbes for more information on the “100,000 for Peace” program

Laurie Forbes

White Gifts with a Small Change

I was asked to help coordinate the White Gifts program this year because I mentioned that my grandmother had been active in this ministry in the early 1940’s, sixty-seven years ago. When Grandmother began her ministry then, Northwest Settlement House was at a home for young girls and women who needed help. Today it has grown to provide services for all people. It provides developmental daycare, social services, and youth services, for the residents of D.C. living in the historic Shaw community. This agency provides a myriad of great programs, including a family support program that includes a supplemental food program, referral services, and advocacy for youth. Their youth programs focuses on children ages 5-19. There is even a summer camp component. Take some time to browse their web site at www.nwsh.org.

Emmaus has historically supported this ministry by collecting Christmas gifts for the children and wrapping them in white paper for our Service of the White Gifts. We have participated in this for 35 years.

I was surprised at my feelings when I first contacted Northwest Settlement House to tell them that I would be coordinating the white gifts program. Rather than feeling more connected to my grandmother, I felt somewhat discouraged, if not ashamed. After all, Advent is all about Jesus coming to change things, to make life different. Jesus talked about changing systems that kept people in their illnesses and poverty. He taught about some people having too much and others having too little. And yet here we are, 67 years later, still struggling with the same issues in this same community.

So this is why I want to ask you to wrap your gift in white paper but decorate it with colored ribbons or bows. Put some sparkle on the package. Be creative since after all these go to children. I am asking for the change in the way we do this to remind us that when we participate in Christmas, we are participating in change. The colored bows and ribbons are our way of saying to ourselves that we are with the Shaw community. These are ribbons and bows of sparkle and justice. This is an invitation to say we want to participate in the message that Jesus proclaimed. The added ribbons may not convey this to the people who receive them. The ribbons are for us, to say that we will continue to share the message of Jesus’ words of hope and justice. And maybe, if we advocate and continue the cry for justice, maybe my daughter will not be asked to coordinate this program when she is an adult. By then justice may have triumphed for this community.

You may pick up the name of one or more gift recipient starting the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We bring the gifts with us to the Service of the White Gifts on the evening of Sunday, December 9. For questions, please call or e-mail Faye Codding.

Faye Codding
Service and Mission

Health and Wellness Corner

Flu: Avoiding the Bug

Thank you to the 18 of you that participated in the flu shot clinic after church on Sunday, November 11. If you have not received your flu shot yet, please make it a priority. Protection provided by the flu vaccine lasts just through the season, and flu viruses can change from year to year, so you need to get a new flu shot every year to prevent the virus. Most major flu outbreaks occur during the winter months and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of the population will come down with the flu each year. An average of 114,000 people is hospitalized every year with flu-related complications and 36,000 die every year. By receiving a flu shot, you can avoid the fever, headache and fatigue, dry cough, sore throat, nasal congestion and body aches that make the flu so miserable. Flu shots are vital to seniors and people with chronic conditions but are a good idea for most others. The flu shot is recommended for everyone over 6 months of age.

Washing your hands is the most important step you can take to prevent the flu or any other infection. Wash for 15 to 20 seconds (two cycles of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”) before and after meals, after using the restroom, after coughing, sneezing or blowing your nose.

Blood Contributions

I hope you will consider giving the gift of blood during the holidays to through Inova's Blood Donor Services (IBDS). If the days become just too hectic, we will have an opportunity to donate January 27 when we partner again with Lewinsville Presbyterian Church in McLean. Details to follow.

Women's Red Tent Book Group

If you are asking Santa to bring you a book for Christmas, ask for Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray and Love, the next book the Red Tent Book Group will discuss. The date will be Sunday, January 20 for a potluck brunch. Even though we have an offer of a place for the gathering, we have met several times at this particular home, so if anyone else would like to open her home for our social, fun and enlightening gathering, please let me know. Please also contact me if you would like to be added to my reminder e-mail list.

Wishing you rich and joyful blessings of Christmas,
Marsha Komandt
Health and Wellness Coordinator

Spiritual Creating

We have the joy of re-organizing the group, which was called Spiritual Knitting last year. Emily Whitaker, a friend of Lisa Usher, has offered to work with us to expand the mission of the group to include any kind of handwork you might like to do. Finished projects would be given as gifts of love. We envision gathering once a month to work, share, and pray for those who would receive our gifts.

If you would be interested in participating in such a venture, you can respond to Emily or Lisa Usher. You may also speak to JoAn Post.

JoAn Post

Shepherd’s Center

The Shepherd's Center of Oakton and Vienna is sponsoring an afternoon of original music and carols featuring Debi Smith. Debi is a nationally acclaimed artist and has performed at Wolftrap, Kennedy Center and the Birchmere. She will be singing on Sunday, December 9, at 3 p.m. at the Unity of Fairfax, 2851 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton. The tickets are $20. Please order early or ask Wanda Butler for tickets. With our church choir singing in the morning and Debi Smith in the afternoon....what a great way to start the Christmas Season!

Wanda Butler

Annual Emmaus Potluck Christmas Party

Please mark your calendar for this year’s Potluck Dinner being held on Sunday December 16th, 2007, starting at 5:00 PM at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry Street, SE in Vienna,.

Each attending family is asked to bring a main entree to share and either a side/salad dish or dessert. Drinks will be provided. Please note the sign up sheet on the bulletin board in the church narthex. There will be an admissions cost to cover the renting of the Community Center and drinks.

This is a wonderful evening of fellowship for the whole family; there will even be a visit from someone special from the North Pole!

If you have any questions, please contact Jayne McLaughlin. Looking forward to seeing you and yours on the 16th of December!

Jayne McLaughlin

Who Makes the First Move?

When my brother became a widower, he wondered what ever happened to his high school girlfriend. At the same time, his high school girlfriend, a widow, was wondering what ever happened to her high school boyfriend. By chance, they found each other through the Internet and, they made arrangements to meet at my brother's home near Conway, New Hampshire, when she traveled from Georgia to attend a wedding in New Hampshire. By the end of their meeting, they had pretty much decided to get married. They are now married and have started spending their winters in the Atlanta area and their summers in the Conway area.

My brother had not been attending church for a number of years, but his new wife had. Since women often play a leading role in such matters, they started looking for a church home in New Hampshire. In particular, they started looking for a compatible UCC church. In one church, they were invited afterwards to attend coffee hour and had an interesting conversation with one of the greeters. The next Sunday, they also attended coffee hour, but the man they met the previous Sunday ignored them, as if they had never met. They didn't go back to that church.

The next Sunday, they attended a different UCC church and went to the coffee hour afterwards. They stood around by themselves, but no one came over to talk with them. The same thing happened the next Sunday. That was the end of attending coffee hour at that church.

When listening to my brother describe these visits, I wondered who really has the responsibility for making the first move in meeting those unfamiliar "others." As in most social situations, there is no reason why my brother and his wife could not have gone up to other persons standing by themselves, or a group of people talking, introduced themselves and started a conversation. That said, I feel it is still the church members who have the prime responsibility to approach others they are not familiar with, introduce themselves and talk with the newcomers, even if it means temporarily leaving a group conversation to invite the newcomers to join the circle of conversation.

During coffee hour, I cringe when I see someone standing awkwardly alone, with no one trying to engage them in conversation. Those people will often not come back again. We all need to take the responsibility for getting to know others attending the coffee hour. This particularly applies to those seen standing alone. I have yet to meet a new visitor or church member with whom I have not had an interesting conversation.

Skip Wolfe, Chair
Church Growth/Evangelism Committee

Snow Policy

Emmaus United Church of Christ's first priority is the safety and well-being of its members, friends, and visitors. It is our policy that we will always err on the side of discretion in inclement weather, particularly snow.

In the event of snow, or an impending snow incident, the following policy will go into effect.

The Senior Minister, in consultation with the Chair of the Board of Deacons, and the Moderator, will determine whether a Sunday worship service will take place that day by 7:30 a.m.
People will have been informed to check their e-mail beginning at 7:30 a.m., and the advisory will have been posted. If there had been a prediction of snow, email advisories will be sent daily with the instructions to check email beginning 7:30 a.m. Sunday.
Alternately, people may call the Church Office, and a recorded message will announce whether there is a service or not.
Very few people do not have access to e-mail in our congregation. They will be notified by telephone by the Chair of the Board of Deacons or the Senior Minister.
For visitors who may not be on any of the lists or who do not know the protocol will watch the news or listen to the radio for closings.
Given the availability of our Web mistress to update our church Web site, church administration will rely on e-mail to inform the congregation of the status of Sunday morning worship when there is inclement weather. Please check our Web site for possible updates; however, please do not rely solely on our Web site for up-to-the-minute calendar changes.

Board of Deacons

Our New Parking Lots and Maintenance Reserve

As most of you know, the Emmaus Council and Property Management Board decided to move ahead with repaving both our upper and lower parking lots in November. The job is now completed, and we hope you’re pleased with the results. I’d like to thank Skip Wolfe for coordinating the work and navigating a complex set of decisions through his careful attention to detail.

The parking lot repaving is the largest single expense the church is likely to face over the next few years. On Sunday, November 4, I asked the congregation for $20,000 to help pay for the repaving and restore a modest maintenance reserve balance after a summer of expensive heating and cooling repairs and upgrades. Thanks to the contributions received in November, Emmaus is nearly a third of the way to meeting our special fundraising goal.

We still have more than $13,000 left to raise. If you haven’t yet contributed, I ask now that you consider doing so to help see Emmaus through a particularly challenging moment in the maintenance of our buildings and grounds. An average contribution of $200 per pledging unit would be enough to meet the goal. The Council is acutely aware of competing claims on your generosity at this time of year—so any gift, no matter the size, is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for your continued faithfulness and stewardship of our church.
Robert Gibbs
Property Management Board

Poinsettias

The Flower Committee cordially invites you to join in a tradition that beautifies our sanctuary and enriches our holiday experience. Members and friends are invited to donate poinsettias to the Sanctuary, which can be taken home after the late Christmas Eve service. Your plants may also be given in honor or memory of loved ones.

Poinsettias cost $18 each. Simply place your completed form and a check payable to Emmaus Church in the envelope on the narthex bulletin board by noon, December 9. Thank you from the Flower Committee!

January Happenings Deadline: December 16, Noon

Learn more about Happenings and how to contribute.

Calendar of Emmaus Events

Sunday, December 2 – 10:30 am Worship Service; 7 pm Spiritual Renewal/Prayerspace
Wednesday, December 5 – 12:30 pm TOBs at Wanda Butler’s house
Sunday, December 9 – 10:30 Choir Concert; 11:30 am Christmas flower orders due; 7:30 pm Service of the White Gifts
Sunday, December 16 – 10:30 am Worship Service; 5 pm Potluck Christmas Party
Sunday, December 23 – 10:30 am Worship Service
Monday, Decmber 24 – 7 pm Festival Service; 10:30 pm Candlelight Communion
Sunday, December 30 – 10:30 am Worship Service

(Please send all calendar items to Louise Baxter by December 16 at noon.)