South Congregational Church Newsletter
e-Lation!
August 21, 2014
Issue 37
In This Issue
Memorial Service
Childcare
Star Island
Saving Energy
Leadership Night
The Underground Church
Family Retreat
Welcome & Celebrate
Flower Power
Saturday worship!

Mark your calendars for the Second Saturday worship starting September 13 at 4:30p.m We will gather in the chapel.
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Memorial Service for Cindy Biese

 

As many of you know, Cindy Biese, a long-time member of South Church and of the Choir died suddenly in early August.   We are planning to celebrate her life with a memorial service here at South Church on Sunday, October 5th, at 3:30 pm.

Volunteers Needed

Are you willing to add your name to a list of volunteers that would fill in once a year if our Sexton is on vacation or ill?

Are you willing to put your name on a list of people who would function as a building steward during concerts/events at South Church by outside groups. This position does not function as a custodian, but rather as security for the building during the event. The rate of pay is $10 per hour.

Please let the office
know if you are willing to add your name to either list.


South Church and Temple Beth Jacob have had a reciprocal agreement to assist one another with childcare during our high holy days.  South Church will be offering childcare at the Temple during Rosh Hashanah (September 25) and Yom Kippur (October 4).  If you are interested in helping out, please email Alison.

Three volunteers are need for September 25 from 9:45a.m. to 11a.m. and from 11a.m. to 12:15p.m.

On October 4 we will need 3 volunteers from 9:45a.m. to 11:30a.m. and 3 from 11:30a.m. to 1:15p.m.
 

Food collected during the month of August will be distributed to the First
Congregational Church food pantry.

Collection boxes are located at the back of of the sanctuary and in the Outreach Closet in Fellowship Hall.
Star Island in the Isles of Shoals, off Portsmouth, NH still has openings for Laity Family Weekend (8/29 or 8/30-9/1).  There are discounts of 30% off room and board for new people; 50% off for new youth attending with an adult.  Details can be found at Star Island or call Dave and/or Martha at 225-9762.
Workshops on Energy-saving Techniques

The NHCUCC "Spirituality and Earth Stewardship" will be offering two workshops on energy-saving techniques for churches. 

Sustainable House of Worship (SHOW) will be held at South Church on November 1 from 8:30a.m. until 12:30p.m. with an optional networking lunch from 12:30-1p.m.  The cost is $10. 

More information will e announced in the NHCUCC  September newsletter or see Sue Moore.
       Office Hours

The South Church Office will resume its regular office hours on Tuesday, September 2.

Monday thru Friday
8:00a.m. - 4 p.m.
Quick Links...

Please Note:  

Pastor Jed's correct e-mail is

[email protected]. It is very similar to his old e-mail address, which he checks only occasionally. Please note the "r" which follows "revjared." If you are not hearing back from him as quickly as you'd like, check to make sure you used his current address. Thank you.

FIT Run Needs Volunteers

 

The Wicked FIT Run, an annual 5K race here in Concord held to support the work of Families in Transition, is scheduled for Saturday, October 25th.   Jenn Konstantakos is helping to pull together a corps of volunteers from South Church. If you would like to help support this important service to women and children in our area, please contact  

Jenn

 

"Praise the Lord.  Sing to the Lord a new song" 
Psalm 149


On Sunday, September 7 we welcome the start of the program year.  Our service will have a variety of lively music, celebration of communion, and moments of joyous being together.  We invite you to join us for worship at 9:30a.m. and stay for a potluck brunch in Fellowship Hall.  This is a celebration, a time to be joyful and welcome the new year.  Please come decked out in whatever brings you joy, bring a breakfast dish to share at the brunch following worship.  We look forward to celebrating together.

 

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The following Sunday, September 14th, we will return to our normal schedule of worship in the Chapel at 8 am and in the Sanctuary at 10.

 

All fall we will be listening for the living, loving, challenging Word of God as it seeks to mold us into a more loving, justice-seeking, neighbor-serving congregation. Our worship theme this fall is "Abundantly Far More Than We Can Ask or Imagine," based on Ephesians 3:20.   Highlights will include a "poetry slam" Sunday on September 28th, a Jazz Sunday on October 5th led by JoySpring and special guests Tim Sink and Tom Robinson, and Holy Humor Sunday on October 26th.

Special Leadership Night

 

Instead of meeting at their usual times in September, members of all boards and ministries are invited to gather instead for one Leadership Night on Tuesday, September 16 at 6 pm,   The evening will begin with a potluck dinner at 6, followed by a brief worship time together.   We will take a few minutes to share our hopes for the coming year, and then will break in to our own small groups for quick 45 minute meetings. Please let your committee and ministry members know about this event and change in meeting date for September. 

 

The Underground Church - A New Conversation
 
What would it mean to reclaim the subversive nature of the early church here in Concord?   How might doing so revitalize our own mission here at South Church?

The Faith Formation Ministry invites you to a one-day event on Saturday, September 13 to engage that question as we reconvene our congregational discussion of The Underground Church by Robin Meyers.  Join us from 8:45 am until 1 pm in the lovely Heritage Room at Heritage Heights (at the rear of the Barrows Building across from Tad's Place) for a screening of one of Robin Meyer's Beecher Lectures from this past September, followed by conversation around the topics of mission, peacemaking, prophetic witness and money.  Coffee and baked goods will be available through the morning followed by a lunch and time for fellowship.

RSVP to Mae Murdoch by September 9.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR! 

Family Retreat is September 19 - 21 at the Horton Center on Pine Mountain.  Please join us for a weekend of fellowship and reconnecting in a beautiful mountain camp setting.  Families of all shapes and sizes welcome!  Perfect for families with young children.  Start a family tradition of attending each year and make great memories.  Bring a friend or two!  Activities include hikes, campfires, skits, shared meals, worship, adult discussion and group activities.  Cost is about $80 per adult, $60 per child under 12.  Due to the cost structure, the more people that attend, the cheaper it gets.
September Communion Offering  

September's Faith In Action offering is for Neighbors In Need, a special mission offering of the UCC that supports ministries of justice and compassion throughout the United States.

 

Annually, one-third of Neighbors In Need (NIN) offerings support the UCC Council for American Indian Ministries (CAIM). Currently, the congregations and pastors of 20 UCC congregations on reservations and 1 urban, multi-tribal UCC congregation in Minneapolis, MN are supported via the CAIM. Two-thirds of each year's NIN offering is used by the UCC's Justice and Witness Ministries (JWM) to support a variety of justice initiatives, advocacy efforts and direct service projects throughout the United States. Neighbors In Need grants of up to $3,000 are awarded to churches and organizations doing justice work in their communities. NIN grants provide seed money for work ranging from direct services (e.g. free summer lunches for school-aged children) to community organizing (e.g. an 8-week leadership training program designed to help low-income people find their voice and advocate for themselves and others) to addressing systemic injustice (e.g. raising public awareness of the practice of wage theft by exploitive employers and addressing the system issues/legal loop holes that make wage theft possible).

 

In this small space, it's impossible to reflect the powerful impact of NIN projects across the United States. We hope you'll visit the Neighbors In Need link on the UCC Website to read some transformational stories, examples of the ways individuals and communities have been changed by NIN ministries - and we ask that you give generously.

              ~Paula Roberts for the Faith In Action Ministry

Welcome

We'd like to announce our new staff member (Church Sexton) Melinda "Mel" Sanchez.  Melinda will officially start work here at South Church on Sunday, August 31. We interviewed several people for the position of Church Sexton and have chosen Mel as the best candidate.  Melinda comes to us via work as a custodian at Granada School, Church of Christ and the University of Northern Colorado Gymnasium in Colorado. She most recently worked as a part-time custodian for our own Bob Butterworth.

Melinda will be working at South Church for 30 hours a week - Sunday through Thursday, 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Her first day on staff will be Sunday, August 31. Please make time to welcome Mel to our staff.

          _____________________________________

CELEBRATE!! 

And, don't forget ~~~ we will be recognizing Bob Butterworth's 15 years of service to South Church at worship services on Sunday, September 14.  Come and wish him well in his retirement.  We will definitely miss him!  (Contributions can still be made towards a gift for Bob.  Simply put a check with "Bob" on the memo line in the offering plate, or stop by the office.)  

ENJOY BEAUTIFUL SPRING FLOWERS!

JOIN US again this year for the South Church Fall Bulb Sale. It so easy - just type in www.flowerpower.com; several choices will come up - click on fundraising for schools and churches; in the upper right hand corner you will find a tab that says  "place an order"; in the box that comes up type in South Congregational Church and fill in the box asking for city and state and then click on search. You will be on our site and you can buy and pay for bulbs and they will be delivered to your door in time for fall planting. And South Church gets 50% of the sale!!
Ambassadors of Abundance

 

This fall you are invited to join with others from our local churches in becoming Ambassadors of Abundance. God has blessed us with amazing, extravagant gifts. What will we do with our abundance? How might we express our love for God with these gifts? Ambassadors of Abundance is an opportunity for all of us to consider how we use the resources that God has given us in life-changing ways.

Ambassadors of Abundance will gather on Saturday, September 20, 6:00-8:00 p.m at Lake Opechee Banquet Center in Laconia, with a social hour and registration beginning at 5:00 pm.

 

This festive evening will feature an inspiring message from Rev. Dr. J. Bennett Guess, Executive Minister of Local Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ; a delicious dinner at an affordable price; live music by Tim Wildman and friends; and great conversation with others from across our Conference. Every pastor and local church member will want to be there. For more information and to register, please visit the Ambassadors of Abundance Website.

Walking Prayer Service for Solidarity with Central America ~  Sunday September 7  at 4 pm

 

Christ the King and South Congregational Church support the service and mission work in San Jose Villanueva, El Salvador. Many of our church members have traveled to the village as volunteers. As we see in the news, the violence in Central America has increased and many children are making the dangerous journey to come to the United States. Our two churches will hold a prayer service on Sunday September 7 at 4 pm to show solidarity through prayer and song. The service will begin at Christ the King (St John's campus 72 South Main). We will then walk to South Church (27 Pleasant St.). Our goal is to be finished by 5:15 pm. Please join us in prayer. For questions, please contact Ignatius at [email protected] or 203-6677. Thanks!