A women's spirituality group has been started, meeting the second and fourth Thursday's of the month.  All Eliot women and their friends are welcome to join this special time of simply "caring for ourselves".   Take some time to center before the rush of the holidays begin!
 

Once again, Eliot Church will be participating in the City Mission Society's Christmas Shop, which brings the joys of giving and receiving to many people in the Greater Boston Metropolitan area annually.  In 2008, over 2000 people benefitted!
 
Gift Suggestions: NEW Items Only! (listed by priority)
- Winter coats, sweaters and sweatshirts. (large sizes especially)
- Hats, mittens, gloves and scarves. 
-  Socks and underwear.
-  Blankets and backpacks.
- Toys, games, and books for all ages.
-  Gift cards from Target, Walgreen's, CVS, Kohl's or other merchants.
 
We will collect our gifts on Sunday, December 6 and transport them to first Church in Winchester.  For more info, contact Patrick O'Reilly or 617-964-4593.

 
If you would like to volunteer time to this project see the flier on the Mission & Social Justice bulletin board or contact Carl McDonald at CMS directly at (617) 742-6830, ext 210.

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Our Christmas Music Sunday this year will present some very special music.  Our Festival Choir will be accompanied by guest musicians  All are welcome!  

 

During  worship, we will present our Intergenerational Christmas Pageant, The True Meaning of Christmas, written by Jon Bassett.  It is the story of an Eliot church family whose children require a bit of divine intervention before they come to understand what Christmas is, and what it is not.  All ages will be touched by this story.  Please join us! 

For some, the holidays are difficult to manage.  Stress, depression, grief can be deep during a time that seems for everyone to be jolly.   Do you need some quiet space?  A healing space?  Time for prayer, for support, for comfort?   An hour to just be?  Then join us for quiet reflection, prayer and meditation.   For more information, contact Pastor Karla by email or at 617-244-3639 ext. 204.
 
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We are joining with other churches in the Boston area to collect gently used children's clothing for the Children's Winter Clothes Closet at  St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Dorchester.  In particular, they need, winter coats, wool hats, mittens, and warm socks in a variety of sizes.  (They also accept new clothing, of course).

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful volunteers in our church school.  It is great fun to walk down the halls to see children and youth settling into their classrooms after they are dismissed from worship.  If you peep in the windows, you can see our Pk-K-1st's building the wall around Jericho, only to blow their "trumpets" to knock it down!  Our 2-3 grades might be busy decorating Joseph's coat, and our 4-5th grades love to make crafts.  Soon, our 6-7 graders will be cooking bible foods, and our 8th and up class is learning about homelessness through movies! Finally, our nursery is thriving with beautiful babies cooing (and sometimes crying) and toddlers  busy at play.
 
We are so grateful for the leadership of last fall term-Norma Escamilla, Ann Lennihan, Elizabeth Flanagan, Ann Brown, Rebecca Minehart, Kyle and Erika Pond, Connie Stubbs, Josephine McNeil, Anya Bassett, Brita Lundberg, Laura Seoane, Sue Maraventano, Amy McMahaon, Cammie Pettingell, Margaret Shue, Lorrissa Ely, Heidi Nepf, and Emilia Halstead.  Thank you for getting the program year off to a great start!
 
Our Winter Term of Sunday School begins December 6 and runs until March 14th.  We are especially happy to welcome Julie Doherty to our nursery as our professional staff. Julie is a full-time child care professional, and is currently employed by our own Aaron and Amy McPhereson.  Welcome Julie!
 
Volunteering in the Sunday School program is indeed a commitment...but the rewards are priceless to the heart and soul.  

Youth Mission Trip
Our youth are gearing up and planning for our mission trip to the Appalachian Service Project in West Virginia during Spring Vacation Week, in April 2010.  We will be doing home repairs and improvements in one of the most impoverished rural areas in the United States.  We will be selling "STOCK" in our trip during November and December, as well as our tasty Appalachian Soup Mix .  For more information, contact Emilia Halstead or Amy McMahon.

Q. Doesn't the word "evangelism" mean I have to hand out pamphlets and stand on street corners asking people if they are "saved?" 

 

A. Not at all. There are certain practices of evangelism that we don't like (and rightly so!). But evangelism means listening to another person's story and then sharing appropriately how the Good News of God is present in your life.  Note "appropriately"!  I may not talk about my relationship with God with my neighbor, but I may mention that "'At my church" we are really interested in the root causes of poverty. We have a group that talks about what we can do about our part in systemic change. You should come with me sometime."'  Or, '"At my church" there is this amazing Friday night concert series. Would you like to go with me?"  There are lots of ways we can share and invite without coercing others. We don't want to throw out evangelism just because some people misuse it.

 

Q. Can we really reach and grow?

 

A. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit any church can reach out. In most communities only 22% regularly attend worship at any church. So the "mission field" is right outside our door and we can do it!
Our membership commission is focused on strategizing  on how we can be a relevant and inviting presence to the 88% of households near Eliot which may contain people looking for a community, just like us!
 
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Would you like to meet our partners, the Chipego Women of Hope, in Zambia this summer?  Communities Without Borders (CWB), the Newton organization linking us to the women, is sponsoring two trips in the summer of 2010; and members of Eliot are invited to go. Consistent with CWB's approach, the emphasis will be on human connection as well as education and related issues.
 
Background:
Given the November service and accompanying announcements about CWB, you may already know that the Chipego Women of Hope care for 70 AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children by preparing meals and seeing that the children go to school. For 30 of the children, Eliot provides $100 a year to cover school fees, books and uniforms. Through a recent "Alternative Giving" event, members of Eliot recently also contributed funds to help rebuild the station where the children eat every day.
 
CWB supports over 1,000 children in nine communities in government schools.  It also supports a similar number of pre-school children through Family Support homes run by groups of women in the partner communities. For more info:   www.CommunitiesWithoutBorders.org 

As you write your Christmas cards this year, consider sending a note to our shut-ins and not-so-out-and-about folks.  They'll be glad to hear from you and know you're thinking of them!
 
Mary Lou Gleason           
16 Garden Rd.
Newton, MA  02458
 
Jane Leighton
31 Colgate Rd.
Newton Lwr. Fls., MA  02462
 
Jane Merrill
Chetwynde/Golden Living Ctr.   
1650 Washington St.
.Newton, MA  02465
 
Miriam Morrow
70 Arlington St.
Newton, MA  02458
 
Susanna Peyser                 
164 Galen St. #48
Watertown, MA  02472
 
Mary Ann Sanders           
Norumbega Point
99 Norumbega Rd. #1
Weston, MA  02493
 
Arline Weyler                   
44 Pembroke St.
Newton, MA  02458
 
Liz Woodbridge                
164 Galen St. #86
Watertown, MA  02472

Happy December Birthday!
Name                    December
Ann Brown                              1
Virginia Robinson                    4
Kate Reardon                          4
Debby Jasset                          5
Philip Mann                              5
Tom Abbe                                7
Joslin Pettingell                       7
Ted Palés                                 8
Julie Totten                             10
Katrina McCarty                       11
Justin Robichaud                     14
Holy Ladd                                15
Pam Cunha                                17
Jackie Scott                            17
Tim Zielinski                            17
Jon Ravin                                20
Rich Bibbo                               21
Francesca Curtin                      21
Lucas DeVol                             23
Gary Hashimoto                       23
Nancy Dick Atkinson                23
Daniel Smith                            24
Jesse Creedy-Powers              28
Mary Ann Sanders                   31

This is how we will communicate within the Eliot congregation about the cancellation of activities due to weather or other emergencies:
 
Since pastor Tony can walk to church, we have never cancelled a Sunday worship service, and probably won't.  However, there are times when we may wish to cancel Sunday School, Chancel Choir, Children's Choir, and other planned programs.
 
Since most of the congregation is connected by email, we will use the Eliot Email list to "get the word out" about cancellations.  For major events, an all-church email will be sent, as well as separate emails for special groups - e.g. the choir, church school families, etc.  If possible, a special message will be put on the church telephone answering machine announcing the cancellations.
 
If you don't have email at home, or would prefer to get a telephone call (rather than email message) if a cancellation might affect you, please call Terri Whitney Jackson in the church office at 617-244-3639 ext. 201 and asked to be put on the phone contact list.