November 2011 Newsletter 

Greetings!

Blessings,

Pastor Dori

FCCH Annual Meeting

Our church covenant maintains that we "submit ourselves to the orderly administration of the affairs of the Church and to walk together in Christian love."  In light of that, the Board of Elders invites you to our Annual Meeting on Monday, November 14, at 7:30 p.m. in Heritage Hall.   This important event in the life of our fellowship provides an opportunity to hear reports from the Pastors, Ministry Leaders, Boards, Standing Committees and Ministry Teams of the Church. In addition,  the 2012 operational and missions budgets are presented for adoption as well as other pertinent business. While dealing with the many practical aspects and administration of our church affairs, the Annual Meeting clearly pictures God's faithfulness over the past months and seeks His guidance in the coming year. Please join us as we gather together and acknowledge God's direction in the life of our church.

Blessings,

Jennifer 

Jennifer Drake

Chair, FCCH Board of Elders

For Such A Time As This - All-Church Building Information Forum November 6

Please plan to join us on Sunday, November 6, in Heritage Hall during the Sunday school hour, for an All-Church Building Information Forum. Paul Hendrickson will share details about the remaining phases of renovation work on our church building:

• The Prayer Room and Chapel Phase completes the remaining second floor of the 'addition' and provides space for prayer before and after services, together with a multi-purpose chapel available for activities such as God's House, a small wedding or funeral, or special presentations such as missionary sharing times.
• The final Sanctuary Phase will retain existing pews and refinished floors, with an expanded and flexible platform setup in front, new carpeting in aisles, and period-appropriate clear glass windows. The stained-glass windows from the sanctuary will be removed, repaired, and installed in the interior of the chapel to preserve and protect them.

Come on Sunday to learn more about these remaining phases, and hear how you can help complete the project in time for our 300th anniversary celebration kickoff in October 2013!

There were three young ladies, a father and his young son, four grandfathers (one who brought his grandson), a teenaged boy and one pastor - this was the make up of our work crew for our last work day on October 22. They did an awesome job in cleaning out many of our beds around the buildings and made our church campus shine. Thanks for your great work!  

On Saturday, November 12 we will have our final fall work day and there is still much to be done, especially raking leaves, cleaning numerous windows and beginning to clean up our Mission House property. We need you to volunteer to help. I hope you'll consider joining us for all or part of the time. For planning purposes, please let me know if you can participate! Contact Phil Best at bestpa@msn.com or at 978.766.1153.

Women's Ministry is Gearing up for the Christmas Season! Plans are underway for our annual Winter Workshop featuring new greens and crafts projects. Mark December 3 on your calendars today and plan to bring your family and friends as we help you get a head start on your holiday decorating and gift giving. You will be guided through the process of making your projects in Heritage Hall from 9 a.m. to Noon.  

Sign up for your favorite project on Sunday, November 20 and 27. Payment must be made when you register so materials can be purchased.  We will be posting images of these projects on the Women's Ministry page of the church website so you can share the fun with your friends.

Here are a few samples of last year's projects


 

Margot

Margot Rox
Women's Ministries Director
mrox@fcchamilton.org

Along the Way

Reflections on faith and life from members of our church family 

Since January of 2001, there have been service opportunities open to the members of FCCH in a somewhat unusual setting in Salisbury, MA.  At that time the first-ever woman's correctional facility in Essex County was opened  -- a small pre-release unit called Women in Transition, or WIT for short. A Boston Globe article about the opening of WIT had this to say about its program: "It is a very regimented, structured program where [inmates] are busy all day."  Sheriff Cousins and all the others involved in running and staffing it (including me --  as I was cutting my teeth as the new prison chaplain at WIT!) were enthusiastic and hopeful that the many aspects of the unusual rehabilitation program would help put inmates on a successful path from prison back into their communities. As part of the program, all inmates took part in three staff-led groups a day on topics like substance abuse, criminal thinking, and anger management. In addition, all inmates attended at least one counseling session a week, a weekly meeting with her reintegration coordinator and several AA meetings. Besides these sessions, there were many other available options from creative writing led by a local teacher to sketching lessons led by Gordon College students. Unfortunately, most of that program and the specialists who ran them are gone, leaving mainly volunteers to carry the program load.

The good news is that volunteers have always staffed the chaplain's program! From the time Women in Transition opened its doors, there was a Sunday night service with singing, prayer and a Bible study, plus a Thursday night Bible study, and eventually a twice-weekly Alpha group and other study groups. A Christmas dinner and an Easter breakfast for inmates have been

Jane Wells

traditional highlights. All these activities have been planned to take the Gospel to inmates who were not believers and to encourage and strengthen the faith of those who were. It has been my strategy to involve as many women as possible from many evangelical churches, with the idea that making as many connections as possible in regional communities would make it easier for inmates to find both a church home and Christian support when they are paroled. Hundreds of inmates have attended these groups; many of these still keep in touch. And FCCH members have been a part of it all, both as volunteers and as prayer support for our activities.

FCCH folks have made a difference by volunteering in many areas.  A few examples  are: helping inmates prepare their taxes (Vicki Best), tutoring GED students (Lynn Marcotte, John Tobey and Tim Whitman), making greeting cards with inmates on many special occasions (Kathy Doane), providing music for studies and parties (Mary Shearer, Sarah Kelly), becoming inmates' prayer partners (Lisa Clay and Linda Teitel), putting together Christmas and Easter gift bags (Tuesday Women's Bible Study) and baptizing a new-believing inmate (Dori!).  If you have skills to teach which might bless the life of an inmate (from knitting to gardening to sketching), we need you more than ever, now that the state is no longer able to fund the original programs. Contact me, if you have an interest. Otherwise, your daily prayers could make all the difference in the life of an inmate who is trying to put her life together.  It could be the most important contribution you could make, for it is always the Father alone who builds His Kingdom and sustains His children. How wonderful that we can all take part in His work in the place where He puts us!

Jane

Jane Wells

Quick Links...

This FCCH Newsletter is e-mailed on a monthly basis. If you would like to submit information for inclusion in the next edition, please e-mail Cece Gough at cmgough@fcchamilton.org.