Color it purple

This Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent. Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Christ Child. The liturgical color for Advent is royal purple or blue for the royalty of a king.  Because Reveille uses purple, the Liturgical Arts Committee (formerly Special Occasion Decorating Committee), will use royal purple bows on all exterior wreaths and purple table runners on the narthex tables.  A special "thank you" to Donna Ludwig for tying the bows, and to Mary Anne Noland for making the table runners.  Many people work behind the scenes to help enhance worship during the Advent/Christmas season. If you would like to help, please contact Margaret Hamilton at 355-1908 or at cmhamilton11@verizon.net or come to the "Hanging of the Greens" on Saturday, December 4.  It is a wonderful time of fellowship and "many hands make light work."

Advent activities families with children will enjoy

Let's all get into the Christmas spirit and prepare for the birth of the Christ child.

Advent wreath-making workshop

The first event will be an Advent wreath-making workshop on December 1 at 6:45 p.m., following the Wonderful Wednesday meal. Fun, holiday-themed craft centers will be set up for children once they have helped their parents prepare their Advent wreath.  Additional details about the Wonderful Wednesday meal are included in this issue of The Window.

The Hanging of the Greens children's activities

On Saturday, December 4, beginning at 9:00 a.m., children's activities will be set up in the children's library. At the closing of The Hanging of the Greens, the children will serve a special treat. Please let Carol Uzzle know if your children will be participating (discipleship@reveilleumc.org or 359-6041 ext. 117). 

Family-friendly service on Christmas Eve

Don't forget to mark your calendar for the family-friendly Christmas Eve service at 4:00 p.m. on December 24.  There will be a story and dress-up opportunities especially designed for preschool children. 

If you have questions or would like to help, please contact Amy Donald at ot4amy@aol.com or 741-5355. 

Children's December Sunday school lessons

Jesus is Born

Children's Sunday school stories during December will be familiar to all and are the stories of Advent. In the midst of the busyness of Christmas, we hope you and your family will take time to prepare for the birth of the Christ Child.  Listed below are the weekly lessons and scripture for the month of December.

         December 5       Mary and Joseph, Luke 1:1-39, Matthew 1:18-25

         December 12     Mary and Elizabeth, Luke 1: 39-56

         December 19     Jesus is Born, Luke 2:1-20

         December 26     God's Gift to Everyone, Matthew 2:1-12

Make an Advent wreath at Wonderful Wednesday

You are invited to our annual Advent wreath-making workshop following the Wonderful Wednesday meal this Wednesday.  Bring a friend or relative, and enjoy creating your own fresh Advent wreath -   visible symbol to use at home as you and your family prepare for the birth of Jesus.  Special children's crafts are planned to put everyone in the holiday spirit. Our evening will end with the lighting of the Advent wreaths.  

If you have fresh greenery that you can share and/or if you are planning to make an Advent wreath, please let Carol Uzzle know by Monday, November 29, (discipleship@reveilleumc.org or 359-6041, ext. 117).  This is a popular event and we need to know how many supplies to order.  The wreath kits will cost $10, and if you need only candles the cost will be $5.

Child care for infants and toddlers will be available. 

Advent devotional booklets will be available for use at home during this holiday season.

Our fellowship meal begins at 6:00 p.m. with a menu of baked spaghetti with meat sauce, garlic bread, Italian salad, cannoli and fruit.  The cost is $6 for adults, $3 for children ages 4 to 12, and free for anyone under 4.  Reservations for dinner may be made by marking the fellowship pad in worship on Sunday or by calling the church office (359-6041) by 3:00 p.m. on Monday, November 29.  Please see our website (www.reveilleumc.org) for upcoming Wonderful Wednesday menus and programs. 

Poinsettias and missions forms are available now

Order early!

      Poinsettias will grace our sanctuary and fellowship hall on Sunday, December 19.  To place a poinsettia in honor of or in memory of someone, please complete the appropriate order form. Pink forms for sanctuary poinsettias and green forms for fellowship hall poinsettias are available now in the chapel, narthex, fellowship hall, and church office. The cost for each flower is $9, and the deadline is Sunday, December 12.

      Yellow donation forms for our annual Christmas Mission Offering are now available in the chapel, narthex, fellowship hall, and church office. The beneficiary of this year's missions offering will be United Methodist Family Services, which provides various types of support for troubled children and families.  Donations received by December 12 will be included in the listing of poinsettias and missions offerings on December 19.

Youth group will not meet this Sunday, November 28.  We will return to our normal schedule next week. Happy Thanksgiving!

Please remember Tatiana and Jose.  We committed to support these children and so far this year, we have raised $536.90 of our $720 commitment.  If everyone gives just $2/month, we will have more than enough to meet our pledge, so please bring your donations.

Come ski at Wintergreen!  Our annual ski retreat is scheduled for January 28-30 at Wintergreen Resort.  The cost for the weekend is $160 for food, housing, and skiing all day Saturday.  The deadline to register is December 10 (no exceptions).  Please contact Dwayne (dwayne@reveilleumc.org) if you have questions or need a registration form. 

Simplify your giving with EFT

Instead of dropping an envelope in the offering plate each Sunday, you may want to consider a simpler way to give to Reveille Church - Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).

EFT allows your offering to be debited automatically from your bank account on a monthly basis. There's no cash to gather, no checks to write, and no envelopes to track down. EFT also is easier for church staff, since there are no deposit slips and no trips to the bank. And it's even simpler than paying online through BillPay or a similar account, which still sends Reveille a check. 

You don't have to wait until you make or renew your pledge to begin using Electronic Funds Transfer - it can be arranged at any time of year. To complete an EFT authorization form or for more information, please contact Glynis Holcomb, Reveille's financial manager, at 359-6041, ext. 118 or finances@reveilleumc.org.    

Glorious Gifts returns next weekend!

Sunday, December 5, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 12, 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

On-line at www.reveilleumc.org on November 29 - December 17

Our goal is to raise $106,000 for Reveille's outreach projects.  This is our main fundraiser for outreach.  The goal for each individual outreach project is listed below. 

CARITAS - $2,500

Rebuilding Together - $6,150

Friends of the Homeless $7,000

Westview Camperships - $12,625

Stop Hunger Now - $5,000

Youth Mission Trip to New York - $23,000

Honduras Medical Mission Trip - $34,600

Sierra Leone Mission Trip - $15,000

Glorious Gifts and Reveille's outreach projects

Stop Hunger Now and Youth Mission Trip to NY

Stop Hunger Now is an international hunger relief organization whose mission is to end hunger in our lifetime.  The organization provides food and life-saving aid to the world's most destitute and hungry, primarily through school feeding programs and shipments to areas in crisis situations.  Stop Hunger Now meals are highly nutritious, dehydrated meals comprised of rice, soy, vegetables, flavorings, and 21 essential vitamins and minerals.  Meals are packaged by volunteers through a fun and engaging assembly line process. The meals are easy to transport, store, and distribute to those in greatest need. Each meal package provides food for six people.  Reveille's goal is to package at least 20,000 meals each fall.

Today in New York City, over 21,000 adults and 14,000 children are in homeless shelters.  Another 3,000 remain on the streets.  Agencies like the Bowery Mission offer broad support for the homeless community, from emergency feeding and clothing to overnight shelter to medical care and education.  In July 2011, Reveille's youth group and youth choir will travel to New York to work with homeless and low-income housing agencies.  Your support will help the team travel to and stay in New York, and provide volunteers and finances to benefit the homeless and those in need of low-income housing.

Stop Hunger Now and the Youth Mission Trip to New York are two of Reveille's outreach projects that are participating in Glorious Gifts in December. Our goal is to raise $5,000 for Stop Hunger Now and $23,000 for the Youth Mission Trip to New York through Glorious Gifts.  This is the main fundraiser for these projects.  Please prayerfully consider this when making your holiday shopping list this season.

Annual Open House and Christmas Concert

A Reveille Christmas

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Open House - 4:30 p.m.

in Historic Reveille House with seasonal harp music, food and décor

Concert - 5:30 p.m.

in the sanctuary featuring the Reveille Music Ministry

Fantasia on Christmas Carols, by Ralph Vaughan Williams

Additional carols by Handel, Luboff, Vittoria, and others

Chamber Orchestra and Organ

For more information, contact Cathy Armistead at 359-6041

or visit our website at www.reveilleumc.org

Do you enjoy baking cookies? 

Some families have a Thanksgiving tradition of beginning Christmas holiday preparations by baking their first batches of cookies. Whether or not this is your family tradition, please consider making an extra batch or two of your favorite cookies for the Reveille Open House on December 19.  If you would like to contribute cookies, please contact Carol Uzzle at 359-6041, ext. 117, or discipleship@reveilleumc.org.

Small groups are starting to form

Have you been thinking and praying about growing in your faith through participation in a small group?   Listed below are some small groups which church members have expressed interest in forming:

Weekday group in the Mechanicsville area

Weekday group for women meeting at the church

Weekday group for men meeting at the church

Sunday morning group meeting at 9:30

If you are interested in participating, please contact Carol Uzzle (discipleship@reveilleumc.org or 359-6041, ext. 117).

Pertussis (whooping cough)

In Virginia and throughout the US, there has been a significant increase in pertussis, also know as whooping cough.  While commonly thought to be a pediatric disease, many teens and adults contract and spread pertussis.

EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT is essential to prevent severe disease, reduce spreading the disease, extensive hospitalization and even deaths. 

Suspect pertussis if you have an unexplained, persistent cough, coughing to the point of vomiting, or inspiratory whooping with cough.  Seek medical care immediately if you develop these symptoms.

The single most effective way to prevent pertussis is vaccination.  It is now recommended that adolescents and adults should be REVACCINATED. The Tdap booster is readily available and covered by most heath care plans.

Please talk with your physician about receiving the Tdap booster for pertussis.  Whooping cough is a preventable disease that impacts all age groups. 

Ellen Bruny, RN

A message to all from Reveille's Green Team:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rejoice!

To make your Christmas celebration show your appreciation for God's creation, start with the four Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Rejoice.

Reduce the amount of waste you produce by buying only as much as you need and choosing products that come in packaging that can be recycled.

Reuse: Carry reuseable bags when you do your shopping, and use cloth napkins that can be washed and used again.

Recycle paper and all plastic, glass and aluminum containers. If you don't already have a compost bin, use your Thanksgiving fruit and vegetable trimmings to start one. The compost will enrich the soil in your garden next spring.

Rejoice: Give thanks to God for the gifts of creation that we enjoy all year.

Year-end giving

Are you planning to make donations to Reveille in late December that you plan to claim on your 2010 income tax return?  If the answer is yes, following are the rules that you need to know. 

Donations must be delivered or mailed and postmarked on or by December 31, 2010 in order to claim a charitable contribution deduction for 2010. 

Checks that are placed in the church offering during the first worship service in 2011 will not qualify for a charitable contribution deduction in 2010 even if the check is predated to 2010 or was actually written in 2010.  However, checks that are written, mailed, and postmarked in 2010 will be deductible in 2010 though they are not received by Reveille until 2011. 

If you have any questions, please call Glynis Holcomb, financial manager, 359-6041, ext. 118.

A note of thanks

Thank you to all who helped enhance the beauty of our sanctuary for Sunday, November 21 and the community Thanksgiving service. Special thanks to Harriet Mayes and others who provided so many items for our altar arrangements. Following the weekday school program last Wednesday, vegetables were donated to The Central Virginia Food Bank Shoppers at The Guardian Place on the grounds of United Methodist Family Services.

Sunday, November 28

8:30 am        Worship* (Chapel)

9:30 am        Sunday School for All Ages (Education Building)

9:30 am        Worship at The Point (Fellowship Hall)

10:30 am      Coffee Fellowship (Fellowship Hall)

11:00 am      Worship* (Sanctuary)

Monday, November 29

7:00 am        Men's Prayer Breakfast (Fellowship Hall)

12:30 pm      Prayer Ministry (Chapel)

6:15 pm        Reveille Ensemble (Sanctuary)

7:00 pm        Reveille Ringers (Sanctuary)

Tuesday, November 30

9:30 am        Staff Meeting (Reveille House Dining Room)

12:30 pm      Prayer Ministry (Chapel)

7:30 pm        Scout Troop 444 (Fellowship Hall)

Wednesday, December 1

9:30 am        The Seekers Class * (Church Parlor)

10:00 am      Chrismon Workshop (Room 210)

12:15 pm      Midday Worship (Chancel)

12:30 pm      Prayer Ministry (Chapel)

6:00 pm        Wonderful Wednesday* (Fellowship Hall)

6:45 pm        Outreach Committee (Reveille House Dining Room)

Thursday, December 2

12:30 pm      Prayer Ministry (Chapel)

6:30 pm        Stewardship Committee (Reveille House Dining Room)

7:00 pm        Chancel Choir Rehearsal* (Choir Room)

7:30 pm        CrossPoint Rehearsal* (Fellowship Hall)

Friday, December 3

12:30 pm      Prayer Ministry (Chapel)

Saturday, December 4

8:00 am        Pancake Breakfast (Fellowship Hall)

9:00 am        Hanging of the Greens (Sanctuary)

9:00 am      Children's Activities (Children's Library)

* Child care provided