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Thanksgiving
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The Columns
November, 2012
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The Eliot Church of Newton
474 Centre Street, Newton MA 02458
617-244-3639
www.eliotchurch.org
No matter who you are or where you are on life's journey,
you're welcome here.
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From Rev. Debbi
"Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth." (Psalm 67:3-4)
It is amazing how busy the Fall has been, which partly explains why November seems to have arrived so soon.
We begin the month with the Prayers of Remembrance, Celebration and Communion on All Saints Day Sunday November 4. We will be re-dedicating the organ in morning worship and then celebrating the 25th anniversary of its place in Eliot through the afternoon concert. It is a day of holy love to begin the holiday season.
November 11th is Armistice Day and we will have a special recognition of the Veterans who worked so diligently for peace with a ringing of the bells at 11 AM, along with many other UCC churches. Following worship is a Forum on understanding gender identity and gender expression as we consider updating our open and affirming statement.
November 18th is Thanksgiving Sunday. There will be an In-Gathering of socks and gloves to be given to Ecclesia Ministries to distribute to the homeless. You can bring them in any time, but they will be blessed on the 18th! The service will end with the traditional singing and trumpet rendition of "When the Saints Go Marching In", thanks to Marcy Johnson. Everyone is welcome to join us after church for the traditional Thanksgiving Dinner.
November 25th is an important day for Michael Fritz, Eliot's seminary intern, who will be preaching here for the first time.
The new Leadership Council is up and functioning. The Search Committee is entering into an exciting time of discernment, and there are so many opportunities for joyful gatherings of the faithful. This has been a Fall of beautiful days-a glorious entry into the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons for the church.
Blessings to you, Rev. Debbi
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Thank you very much, Arigatou gozai masita!
From Rev. Ohmae.
 The Dear my friends. In this time, I am extremely got help during America staying. Thank you very much really. I thanks for being warmly accepted by you sincerely. Now announces to have returned home safely. The jet lag, recovers barely and original worries. In this time, it appreciates, saying it is possible to have achieved the purpose of the travel for the most part. Concerning the various places, it was possible to learn about the History of America's independence and the culture in the old times. I was possible to have meaningful time really. Also, I thinks that it sees opportunity and that I want to report this information. It is good still. I am praying whenever for you. There be a blessings of the God abundantly. --From Yukimasa Ohmae  "The sea of the landscape at evening which can be seen from verandah of my house."
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Mission and Social Justice Commission
Lots going on with Mission & Social Justice this fall. We invite you to participate! Time to Restock Newton Food Pantries November is the month to bring contributions for Newton food pantries. We hear from pantry volunteers that the local need is greater than ever because a) they have more clients, b) food prices are up, and c) contributions are down. You'll find marked boxes at both entries to the sanctuary where you can leave donations each Sunday in November. See suggestions below: Non-Perishable Foods * cereal * meals-in-a-can * canned fruits * peanut butter * canned tuna and meats * spaghetti or meat sauces * canned vegetables * coffee/tea * juice * macaroni & cheese * jams & jellies * soups Household/Hygiene Items * toilet paper * laundry detergent * dishwashing liquid * hand soap * toothpaste & brush * shampoo Alternative Giving Returns in December You can surprise and honor people on your Christmas list with an alternative gift that helps educate a child in our partner community in Zambia. Though the Newton organization Communities Without Borders, Eliot is directly connected to 70 AIDS orphans and other vulnerable children and the women who feed and encourage them in the Linda Compound outside Lusaka, Zambia. Opportunities for gifts abound at all price levels: $9 One pair of shoes for one child. (School requires children to wear shoes.) 13 Uniform for one child in primary school 42 Meals for a month for one child 75 Annual school fee for one child in primary grades 85 Tutoring program for secondary students taking national examination (Required in order to advance to the next level) $105 One month's salary for preschool teacher 146Annual tuition for one child in grades 8-12 300 One year of secondary school education for one child (Tuition, uniform, shoes, supplies, etc.) You'll receive an acknowledgement card with a photograph to give as your gift. Please stop by MSJ's Alternative Giving table during coffee hour on Sunday, Dec. 2nd or 9th. Consider traveling to Zambia next summer with a contingent from Eliot This is the month to think seriously about whether to follow Erica Pond's example and travel to Zambia for several weeks next summer to visit and work in communities supported by Communities Without Borders (CWB). Meetings for interested travelers begin in December, and deposits are due in January. You can read an interview done with one of the students last summer by clicking here. If you think you might want to go, please contact Patrick O'Reilly. Opportunity to support CWB by buying a chance on a new Prius Communities Without Borders also needs support as an organization in order to underwrite the education of 1,500 children in Zambia. Our own Patrick O'Reilly is on the CWB board and can vouch for how lean its operation is. You can help by buying a chance on a brand new 2012 Toyota Prius II (4-door, 4 cylinder, hybrid). Tickets are $100, and only 500 will be sold. (Odds of any ticket winning are 1:500, and at least 250 must be sold.) Sales end Dec. 6th. If you are interested, please contact Connie Stubbs If you would like to be more connected to the work of MSJ, please contact Connie Stubbs connie.stubbs@alum.mit.edu or any of the members listed in the church directory. |
Search Committee Update
PROFILES, PROFILES, AND MORE PROFILESYour Search Committee is deep in the process of reading profiles of potential candidates who would like to become the next Senior Pastor of Eliot Church. To date each committee member has a stack of about 5 inches of printed material describing the qualifications of candidates. All the ministerial profiles follow the Mass UCC Conference guidelines. This means that typically each profile can be up to 25 pages long. The bios include the candidate's qualifications, chronological employment history, Statement on Ministry, accomplishments, and references. We have pledged to treat each applicant fairly. So there are no short cuts in the reading and evaluation process. After we have read the profiles individually, the committee then meets to compare and discuss them. Of course, no final decisions have been made about any particular candidate at this stage. We have also successfully completed a "mock" or practice interview arranged by Wendy Vander Hart to test out our interview questions and learn how we as a Search Committee can best work together to create a positive interview experience for "real" candidates. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.
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Fall Fair Success and Gratitude
There are not enough words to thank Liz Thurston and Nadja Young for the incredible gift of time and talent in organizing the Church Fair.
And a big thank you to Ann Sharp and Connie Stubbs, who spent hours with their volunteers sorting the Flea Market items, Ann Lennihan for feeding all the workers, Terry Hackford, Leslie Creedy and Barbara Couturier for organizing all the books, Susan Nason, who worked with a great group of volunteers for the Café, the Stroshanes and Alice Holt for pulling the bake sale together and Suzannah Peyser, Mary Anne Schoonover and Elizabeth Flanagan who spent hours on the phone soliciting donations for the raffle. The list is endless because it was a remarkable time of community and fun and energy. And thank you to everyone who worked on the day of the Fair! Business Donors Key to Fair Cafe Success - A very big thank you to the businesses who donated goods to the Eliot Church Fair cafe. Without their donations the profit from the cafe would have been much less. We encourage you to patronize these businesses and tell them "thank you for supporting the Eliot Church Fair." Donations were made by Dunkin Donuts (Newton Corner), Great Harvest Bread Company (Newtonville), Roche Bros., Starbucks (Newtonville), Uno Chicago Grill (Newton Corner) and C&N Pizza (Newton Corner).
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Total Sales 2012 Fall Fair
| | Flea Market | $ 3,162.56 | | Books | $ 1,538.31 | | Silent Auction | $ 1,030.00 | | Café | $ 886.95 | | Raffle | $ 565.00 | | Bake Sale | $ 521.30 | | Kids' Activities | $ 324.15 | | | $ 8,028.27 |
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All Saints Day
On November 4th we will be celebrating All Saints Day, and we will be remembering those loved ones who have died during this past year. If you would like to have someone named in the Prayer of Remembrance on All Saints Day, please email Rev. Debbi or The church office so that we can be sure to include the name in prayer that morning. We all look forward to this intentional day of remembrance and love. |
 Ingathering of socks, gloves and...On November 18th, Eliot church will be holding an ingathering of socks, gloves and all articles of clothing that people who are homeless will need to acquire as the weather gets colder. We will bless them in Sunday morning service and they will be donated to an organization that will send them out to be distributed to those who need them. Please plan on bringing items for donation to the service with you that morning. Thank you in advance for helping people stay warm- Michael Fritz, Seminary Intern
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Thanksgiving Dinner
HOLD THE DATE - Sunday, November 18 for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner, following worship. As in the past, volunteers are needed to bring cooked turkeys and other side dishes, as well as Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning setup. Please see the signup poster in the hallway. If you have questions, please contact Martha Totten or evenings by phone: 617-965-3939 |
 Brown Bag Book Discussion
"Speaking Christian" by Marcus Borg
Forum, Sunday, January 13th, 11:30 am Parlor
Join the Eliot Church staff in a lively book discussion around the book, "Speaking Christian" by Marcus Borg. This is the book that was referred to at the last women's retreat in February, 2012. Bring a bag lunch, and we will provide beverages, salad, and a sweet treat. The book is available at Amazon, in hardcover and Kindle editions. Karla has two Kindles she can lend, and we will order books at $16/copy.
Book Description: Modern Christians are steeped in a language so distorted that it has become a stumbling block to the religion, says internationally renowned Bible scholar Marcus J. Borg. Borg argues that Christianity's important words, and the sacred texts and stories in which those words are embedded, have been narrowed by a modern framework for the faith that emphasizes sin, forgiveness, Jesus dying for our sins, and the afterlife. Here, Borg employs the "historical-metaphorical" method for understanding Christian language that can restore for us these words of power and transformation. For example,
*Redemption: now narrowly understood as Jesus saving us from sins so we can go to heaven, but in the Bible it refers to being set free from slavery.
*Savior: now refers to Jesus as the one who saves us from our sins, but in the Bible it has a rich and wonderful variety of meanings having nothing to do with the afterlife.
*Sacrifice: now refers to Jesus's death on the cross as payment for our sins, but in the Bible it is never about substitutionary payment for sin.
In Speaking Christian, Borg delivers a language for twenty-first-century Christians that grounds the faith in its deep and rich original roots and allows it once again to transform our lives.
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Church Family News BIRTHDAYS, ANNIVERSARIES and WEDDINGS Another child of Eliot is wed: Remle Stubbs-Dame married Jeff Newton in September. Daughter of Chris Dame and Connie Stubbs, Remle first came to Eliot as an infant. She is a big fan of Eliot's, attributing her values and sense of belonging to the church -- and the boatload of loving adults found here. Remle works in public health, and Jeff is an attorney. They live in Brooklyn. p.s. Remle and Jeff were both in Jonathan Bassett's history class at Newton North. He reportedly once threatened to send them into the hall for too much flirting.  Happy November Birthday!
2 Chiara Castro 4 Barbara Avery
4 Jane Leighton
4 Diane Pullen
4 Rich Stroshane
7 Brenda Mason
7 Gabriela Mata
7 Mary Gwen Scott
10 Kevin Smith
10 Alex Stroshane
15 Susanna Peyser
16 George Lennihan
18 Ryan Byrne
18 Marcy Johnson
20 Lillie Rundlett
21 Mary Gomes
21 Kyle Pond
22 Chris Stuart
25 Virginia Schock
29 Richard McCann
30 Donna Rombauer
Happy November Anniversary! 3 Karla Miller & Liz Thurston 20 Gretchen Hunt & Allyn Hawes What is going on in your family? News about happy occasions such as marriages, new babies, new grandbabies, job changes, retirements, or other special honors or events as well as sad news about illnesses or deaths is one way that the Eliot community "shares each others joys and sorrows". So if something is going on in the life of your family, please write up a note and submit it to one of the pastors or the church office for inclusion in the following month's Columns. Pictures are welcome also.
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