South Congregational Church Newsletter
e-Lation!
January 21, 2016
Issue 9

In This Issue

Our beloved Virginia Wren Teaster, will be baptized on Sunday January 24 at the 10:00 service.  We welcome you to join us on this special day as we acknowledge the grace of God's love in her life.  We look forward to celebrating with you and welcome you to join us for cake during Fellowship Hour following the service.  "He has made everything beautiful in His time.  Ecclesiastes 3:11.  
Join Our Mailing List
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper
 
Mark your calendar now for the Senior High Youth Group's annual pancake supper, Tuesday February 9.  Diner service begins at 5pm.  $7 per person or $21 for a family of 4 or more.  

Ash Wednesday                     
February 10 
 
Ash Wednesday services:
 
Morning Prayer  7:30 am
Library 
 Rev. Jed
 
South Seniors  3:00 pm
Chapel 
 Rev. Carlos
 
Evening Service 5:30 pm
Sanctuary 
Rev. Jed

Lenten Devotional
 
Carlos will be offering a weekly devotional through Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday.  These weekly devotionals will be send on Wednesday mornings.  If you are interested in being on the email list for the South Church Devotional please send an email to [email protected] or
visit https://groups.google.com/d/forum/scc-devotional
A limited number of printed copies of the devotional will also be available.


 
The food collected this month was easily double what we normally receive each month, thanks to Paige and Roy Annis.  Paige and Roy ran their own food collection as a way of sharing with others the many blessings they have received. Thank you, Paige and Roy, and thank you all church members for your continued support of this ministry. 
Environmental Stewardship
  
Check out the Environmental Stewardship Bulletin Board.  You will find information about the impacts of the Gas Pipeline (from Fracking) that is being proposed along a route in southern NH. The UCC is active in this issue.
We Are Concord
Everyone Welcome!
Brought to you by MANY community partners.

Breakfast and conversation
Saturday, February 13
9am-11am
IBEW Local 490 48 Airport Road

Lunch and Conversation
Monday, February 15
11am-1pm
Temple Beth Jacob
67 Broadway Street

Pizza and conversation
Tuesday, February 16
6pm-8pm
Concord High School cafeteria
Hosted by the "Be the Change" Club

For questions please contact:  
[email protected]
 or 603.862.0692

For information or to RSVP, please visit: WeAreConcordNH
or see the poster on the Community Board in Fellowship Hall.
Quick Links...
 
Please help us welcome Peg Wenzel to our Church staff. Peg is our new Coordinator of Volunteers and Communications Director. She replaces Dianna Powers. Peg has lived in Penacook for 16 years (originally from W. Springfield, MA). She worked for Lovering Volvo for 13 years before joining our staff. She and her husband, David, have a 14 year old son, Michael. They also have a new addition to their family, a 12 week old Golden Retriever named Paddles. Peg's hobbies are photography and scrapbooking. She also likes to ski and snowshoe during the winter and cycle and paddleboard in the summer.
 
Please make time to stop by the office and welcome Peg to our staff!
old-book-spines.jpg Congregational Book Study As we embrace the theme "Called to Deeper Waters," Jed invites you to join him and a dozen other South Churchers for an ongoing study of Wayne Muller's book "How, Then, Shall we Live?"  The book invites us to ponder our own spiritual journeys in light of four major questions:  Who am I?  What do I Love?  How Shall I Live, Knowing I Will Die? and What is my gift to the family of the Earth?"  Please join us after the 10 am Worship for or one, two, or all three of the remaining sessions on February 7th, March 6th and April 10th.  Discounted copies of the book are available through Gibson's Book Store.
FAITH FORMATION

 

The Faith Formation Ministry wants to express its gratitude for your continued support and generous donations.  The following funds were received over the past few months.

July/August    Strengthen the Church      $622.00

September     Neighbors In Need             $318.00

November      Relief Society                     $1281.00

December      Christmas Fund                 $918.00   

 

______________________________________________

 

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Saturday , March 5 at 6:30pm

What a wonderful way to connect with South Church members and embrace the tradition of sharing a meal. Sign up in Fellowship Hall to be a host or a guest.  The Faith Formation Ministry will take it from there.  

FAITH IN ACTION

 

LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS- RIVERBEND
  
For February the Faith in Action Ministry has chosen our neighbors at Riverbend for our moment for mission. Specifically we ask you to donate to the Beth Sweet Memorial Fund which primarily supports the ancillary basic needs of adults with severe mental illness. To request support clients work with their case managers and treatment teams. The fund is used to provide items such as winter hats and coats, shoes, business clothes, gas vouchers, adult education classes and small appliances. This fund helps build a trusting relationship between clients and their Riverbend caregivers.
UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 
  
PREPARED TO SERVE
The NH Conference, UCC, will host Prepared to Serve on February 20 at Pembroke Academy. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Many of our South Church folks will be participating this year: Becky Field - Understanding our Immigrant & Refugee Neighbors; Revs. John & Faye Buttrick - Breaking Open General Synod Resolution on Israel/Palestine; Becky Field - Different Roots, Common Dreams: New Hampshire's Cultural Diversity; Duane Bailey -  It Is Finished: The Work of End of Life Preparation Task Completion, A Brief Overview of the Basics; Sue Moore - Peace, Justice and the Environment; Rev. Mollie Landers Hatt - In God's Backyard; Incorporating Outdoor Ministries into the Life of the Congregation.
  
Please plan to sign up and attend PREPARED TO SERVE
 
More information is posted on the board in Fellowship Hall.
  
 ________________________________________
  
A THANK YOU FROM THE UCC
Gary Schulte from the NH Conference sent the following message and asked that we pass it on to all the cookie bakers providing goodies for their Open House.

" Dear Friends in Christ:
Thank you for the delicious cookies that you provided for the Conference's Advent/Christmas Open House.  We had many friends who came to share in the festivities.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  Your cookies certainly helped to make it so.  We are grateful to be partners in ministry with you.
                            Advent Blessings and Christmas Joy!
                                   Gary Schulte"
  
__________________________________________
  
THINK SUMMER!
  
Registration is now open for conferences on beautiful Star Island in the Isles of Shoals, off Portsmouth, NH. A variety of conferences are available from June through Sept., you're sure to find something that interests you! There are 3 UCC conferences, too (Star Gathering1 & 2 and Laity Family Week end).  Details on each conference and registering online is available at www.starisland.org.
  
Star Island is also hiring Museum Interns for 2016 for the Thaxter Museum collections (deadline March 1), and if you are 18 years and older, you can apply to be a "Pelican." Check out the website for an application, job descriptions, qualifications. Become a part of the Star Island summer staff! Information can also be found on the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall, or contact Martha and Dave Burnham.