The Good News - This Week

The Good News - This Week is a publication of Alpharetta Presbyterian Church for its members and friends.

Send your comments and suggestions to connections
@alpharettapres.com.

Ollie's Offerings

As we pause this week to express our thanksgiving to God for the blessings we enjoy, know of the very real help you have given to your neighbors in need through this year's Harvest Food Drive. I am reminded that APC was named NFCC's "faith partner of the year" in November of 2011! Last week, four carloads of groceries were delivered to NFCC and The Place at Forsyth. Your generosity and care for the needy and hungry in our midst has made a difference for good. When we arrived to deliver the food the shelves were mostly barren. The volunteers there were as happy to see our donations as the clients who received them.

In celebration of the love of Christ which you put into action daily, I share with you a poem that a former client of North Fulton Community Charities' wrote and shared last week at NFCC's volunteer appreciation breakfast.

You do not know me

But you choose to lift my heart.

You have never met me

But you choose to share my burden.

Your surplus could be tossed away

But you choose to spend wisely.

You are character! You are kindness!

You offer no judgment, only informed direction.

You see I have one feather left

And you offer me your wings

So that I may choose to offer my one feather

To the Lord.

A happy and blessed Thanksgiving to you all!

Angel Tree

Last chance to adopt an angel! The tree is still up in the lobby and we have a few angels in need of Christmas cheer. You can also make a cash contribution if that is easier. Please stop by today and see how you can help.Angel gifts MAY be brought to APC no earlier than Monday, November 26 and no later than Sunday, December 2 at noon. If you have questions, contact Michelle Olsen, 770/777-0549 or Eva Wardrup, 770/354-1226.

Poinsettias

You may purchase a poinsettia, in memory or in honor of a loved one, to be placed in the sanctuary for Advent and Christmas worship services. You may take your poinsettia home after Christmas services are completed. The cost per poinsettia is $11.00. In lieu of flowers (or in addition to flowers), loved ones may be honored and remembered by making a monetary gift to APC's Pastor's Emergency Fund that sponsors members and friends of the church going through financial emergencies. Your donation will be listed as a gift in the Christmas Eve bulletin. See the table in the hallway to complete a form and make a payment by the December 9 deadline.

Harvest Food Drive

Thanks to the generous support of APC, Gerard Ballard, John Shevlin, Ollie Wagner and Steve Wardrup (not pictured) delivered four carloads of groceries to North Fulton Community Charities and The Place of Forsyth on Friday, November 16. Many famililes will have a Happy Thanksgiving thanks to your food gifts!

STARS Christmas Party

STARS Annual Christmas Party is Friday, December 7 at 6:00 PM in Fellowship Hall. Chef Doug will prepare a delicious holiday dinner followed by our annual White Elephant exchange. Cost is $21.00 per person. Checks are made payable to APC with STARS Christmas Party on the note line and turned into the office or given to Barbara Gibson or Janice Armistead, who are coordinating the party. Please sign up on the STARS bulletin board just outside the church office. Deadline is November 28. All are welcome.

Thanksgiving Service

A beautiful, Alpharetta Community Thanksgiving Service was held Tuesday, November 20 at St. Aidans Episcopal Church. Clergy and choirs from several area congregations participated and an offering of $1413.97 was collected for North Fulton Community Charities. Barbara Duffy, NFCC's Director, sends her gratitude and wishes all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Hanging of the Greens

On Wednesday, November 28 come and enjoy an evening of dinner, making of Advent ornaments, singing Christmas carols, and participating in the Hanging of the Greens to decorate APC for the Advent season.

Dinner is from 6:00 PM - 6:30 PM. Dinner feesare: $4.00 for children 8 years and younger; $6.00 for adults/youth. Reservations are required for dinner. Make your reservations by noon of Sunday, November 25: (1) going on-line at http://www.alpharettapres.com/acs; (2) by filling out a card on the table in the hallway, or (3) by enteringinfo on the bright lime green sheet posted by the APC kitchen door.

The activities are intergenerational and will begin at 6:30 PM. Children, with assistance from parents, will make Advent ornaments. Some of the ornaments will be taken by APC Deacons to shut-ins from our church. Hanging of the Greens will help decorate our sanctuary and other areas of the church. Christmas carols along with Christmas cookies and holiday drinks will be available during the evening's activities. Nursery is provided.

Menu for dinner:

Taco Salad (If you are tired of turkey or ham from Thanksgiving!)

Cheese Quesadillas

Chips, salsa, Guacamole

Dessert - Christmas Bread Pudding, Christmas Cookies

Drinks - Apple Cider, Eggnog, Hot Chocolate

Candy Canes

Family Worship Service

Open Arms Ministry is sponsoring a Family Worship Service to celebrate the coming of the Christ child on Saturday, December 1 from 4-5:00pm in the sanctuary followed by a craft and fellowship time in the Fellowship Hall. This is an inclusive service geared towards those with disabilities. Come help us begin the holiday season with story and song!

Tech Support

Are technological devices a challenge to you? Do smart phones make you feel less than intelligent? Does the word tablet bring to mind images of a bound booklet with lined pages? If so, help is on the way. We are pleased to announce a new support group available to APC which is part of the Communications Committee. This group will be led by Dick and Sharon Bean. They can be reached by phone at 770-475-5340 or tech@alpharettapres.com

Ladies Event

Ladies' Night Out - Dinner and Ornament Exchange. Enjoy dinner catered by Panera Bread and an Ornament Exchange on Friday, December 14 at 6:30 PM. We will meet at APC in Room 206/207. the price of $7.00 per person includes salad, drinks, and dessert! Bring a wrapped ornament or Christmas decoration. Friends welcome! RSVP by December 9 to pamheydinger@comcast.net or 770-664-8354.

A Christmas Carol

"Bah! Humbug!" The refrain follows us every Christmas...into parking lots and out of long lines. Gather the family together and take a break from the go-go Christmas Season. Meet our classic characters: Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and of course, Ebenezer Scrooge and his three "spirited" friends. We'll weave our tale with a ribbon of all your favorite Christmas carols. Bring the spirit back to your Christmas Holiday at ACT1.

Shows are every Friday and Saturday night from November 23 - December 16 at 7:30pm and Sunday, December 2, December 9 and December 16 at 2:00pm.

Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for children 12 and under and seniors 60 and over.

You can get tickets by calling our box office at 770-663-8989 or finding us online at www.act1theater.com.

Special Pricing for APC Members! Use Coupon Code APCCC when checking out.

ACT1 Theater is located inside Alpharetta Presbyterian Church at 180 Academy Street, Alpharetta, GA 30009.

Living Nativity: ACT1 is calling any gentlemen that can sit, stand or kneel for a while and will be available Christmas Eve from 3 - 5pm. We are helping to build a beautiful living nativity tableau on the front lawn for Christmas Eve. NO LINES TO LEARN! If interested, please contact Lisa Matchen.

Church Directory

We are pleased to announce that APC is in the process of putting together a beautiful, full color church member picture directory. The directory will have color family portraits and will be used with Access ACS to offer directory information. It is very important that all of our church families be included to assure a complete, up-to-date directory. Please click on the below link and choose a time that is most convenient for your family. We will have this Web Schedule available until November 27. Then we will have the schedule available for you to signup in the church. If you should need to reschedule your Web Appointment please do so by calling The Portrait Cafe at 1-877-896-9667 extension 325. Thanks for your participation and remember SMILE!

http://www.appointmentquest.com/scheduler/2170124024?schedule=alpharettapresbyterianchurch

Cancer Care Group

The Cancer Care Group is again creating gift baskets to provide to caregivers of pediatric cancer patients who must spend the holiday season in Children's Hospital of Atlanta. Among the items we would like to include:

Books, inspirational or paperbacks for fun reading

packets of tea, coffees, sugars, sweetners, etc.

prepackaged snacks: crackers, chips, cookies etc.

mints, gum etc.

Coffee mugs or travel mugs

Christmas-theme gift tissue paper (red, green or print)

A bin has been set up in the lobby for donations. We will be accepting donations throughout the month of November and assembling our bags on Saturday December 1.

Career Transition

APC Career Transition Program - Recently the unemployment rate in Metro Atlanta decreased from 9.9% to 8.4%. If you would like employment assistance, please contact Elder Bill Harris at w.m.harris@att.net. If you are employed in a decision making level position, please contact Bill with opportunities in your own organization, as well as positions that might be open in other Metro Atlanta organizations.

Youth Ministry News

No Youth Group on November 25 - Happy Thanksgiving!

Save the date! Youth Group Christmas Party will be Sunday, December 9, more details coming soon.

Youth Orchestra Forming - calling all Youth Instrumentalists. APC will again form a Youth Orchestra to play on Sunday, December 9 at the 11:00 service. We will rehearse on Sunday, December 2 from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm and then again before the 11:00 service on December 9. If you play an instrument and have played at least 2 years, let Joel Lillethun know joel@alpharettapres.com and he will get music to you. If you cannot make the December 2 practice but would still like to play, let Joel know and he can make arrangements for you.

Join us for Sunday School! Middle and High School Youth meet in the upstairs education wing from 9:45 - 10:45 on Sunday mornings. We hope you'll come and feed your spirit through thoughtful discussion and fellowship.

Morning Prayer Breakfasts - West Side meets every Wednesday morning, 7:00 AM, at Crabapple Starbuck's. East Side meets monthly on Tuesday morning, 7:00 AM, at Bronx Bagels (next meeting will be December 11). Additional details on the Youth Website.

We need parents to help with meal prep for Youth Group. Contact Wendy Curl to select your date.

Please update your information in Access ACS! The Youth Ministry will begin transitioning all sign ups for events and volunteering to this system over the next few weeks and we want to make sure that we have current information for everyone. If you are having trouble, please contact Michelle Burton for assistance.

For questions or more information, please contact Kelly Edwards, Director of Youth Ministries at kelly@alpharettapres.com or 770-751-0033.

Children's Ministry News

Children's Ministry Dates:

Just a reminder, there will be no Sunday school this upcoming Sunday, November 25th.

December 2 - Advent Unit begins

December 23 - Children's Christmas Pageant at 9:50

December 30 - No Sunday school

Club 45 & Operation Christmas

Thanks to all who participated in Operation Christmas this year. Club 45 and the children of APC collected and donated 52 shoeboxes filled with surprises to be sent to children all over the world who have never heard the Gospel. We will be tracking where our shoeboxes are going and praying for the children who receive them. 15 children from Club 45 were able to take a tour of the distribution center and learn about how their small donation changes the life of the child and family who receives it.

VBS Planning Meeting

We will hold our first VBS planning meeting for this upcoming summer's VBS on Sunday, Dec. 2 in room 206. We will be choosing a curriculum for VBS, which will be held June 10th - 14th. Please join us as we begin to plan. Everyone is welcome.

Nursery care is provided on Sundays from 8:15- 12:15pm for ages 0-2 in the nursery.

Promise Class is provided on Sundays during the 11:00 worship service for our special needs students in the Blue Room.

Kinderkirk (Children's Worship Education for children ages 3 - rising 2nd graders) is offered at the 8:30 and 11:00 service. Preschool classes will meet in Room 101 and Kindergarten and rising second graders in Room 102.

Sympathy & Celebrations

Sunday Volunteers

Serving as acolytes this Sunday: Daniel Redder at 8:30 & Zoe or Thea Genet and Duncan Moehring at 11:00

Serving as greeters this Sunday: Joyce Komala and Jeanne Goodwell at 11:00

Serving as ushers this Sunday: Richard Boston, Kelly Vandever, Marian Cunningham, John McPherson at 8:30 & Stu and Kyle Laubenstein, Dave and Zach Berry, Nancy Hill, Mary Rogovin, Peggy Asher at 11:00

APC Church Officers

The Session

Class of 2012 Class of 2013 Class of 2014

Dianne Berry-Children's Ministry George Bancroft-Property Scott Doll-Membership/Youth Ministry

Michelle Burton-Youth Ministry Jodie Barger-Children's Ministry Molly Elkind-Worship

Morris Estes-Finance Lynn Danson-Fellowship/Mission Stu Laubenstein-Personnel

Jim Gray-Clerk of Session/CE Pat Dennis-Open Arms Anne Mahone-Dayschool/LRP

John Shevlin-Mission Nancy Hill-Personnell/Nominating Charles Moriarty-Property/CE Adult

Jessie Prigge-Youth Ministry Jan Hughey-LRP/Finance Sarah Provow-Open Arms/Commitment

Amy Rogers-Communications Kylie Vacko-Open Arms Ferrell White-Worship/Fellowship

Jean Williams-Nominating/Membership

Deacon Care Teams

Hospitality - John Hicks, 678-513-4570, john.c.hicks@gmail.com

Companion Care - Carolyn Dillon, 770-751-3799, csdillon@bellsouth.net

Hospital & Recovery - Paul McChesney, 678-234-8471, paulsmcchesney@gmail.com

Sympathy & Celebrations, Steve Ludlow, 770-722-5473, ludlowst@comcast.net

APC on Facebook

Find us on Facebook! That's right Alpharetta Presbyterian Church has a facebook page! You can "like" APC at http://facebook.com/alpharettapres. Look for the latest information about activities and missions of the church!

The Good News - This Week

Alpharetta Presbyterian Church.
You can visit the church on line at www.alpharettapres.com or contact the office during regular business hours at 770-751-0033 (Mon-Thurs, 8:00am-4:00pm and Friday, 8:00am-1:00pm).