December 13, 2012

December 13, 2012


As always with this season, there is a lot going on!
Be sure to read below to find out how to participate in some of the
great things happening during these Advent & Christmas seasons.


TOMORROW (Friday) EVENING - We are having our first Remembrance gathering in quite a while: Advent. Come to the chapel at 6:30 for this reflective time of worship and communion. Old friends Tim Capozzi and Sam Mohnkern will be joining Sarah as guest musicians. It should be a great time!

This Sunday - Pastor Jeremy will be back to preaching this Sunday out of the lectionary passages, with our Advent theme focusing on Joy. Be sure to come early(er) to catch some great special music and the Advent group reading this week. And again: Don't forget to mark your calendars for our Christmas Eve: Gathering of Lights service on December 24 at 4:16 PM (sundown).

Coming Home Advent CD - Do you have any left over CDs from last Advent? Bring them back to the chapel so we can continue to give them to our friends this year!

 Spanish Word of the Week - alegria, which means "joy". 

Annual Christmas Sing-Along - Join us at Thaxter Park (just up Thaxter Street from our chapel) on Saturday, December 22nd at 5pm for an evening of soup and Christmas carol singing. The residents at Thaxter will be providing diner and we are all asked to bring finger desserts (cookies, brownies, etc.). Should be a great time once again!

Ladies' Christmas Gathering - Attention all ladies: join us on December 20th at 7pm at Charlie DiSante's house for a cookie exchange and fellowship. We will exchange our cookies, have hot beverages and engage in fellowship! Also to make it a more festive night we will exchange in the making of ornaments. Bring enough supplies to be able to teach everyone how to make a simple ornament that everyone will be able to take home at the end of the night. We will also have a simple gift exchange. No need to buy anything, just bring something from home you are no longer using and we will exchange away. If you are coming or if you have any questions please email Christina Duncan (so we can get a headcount for the ornaments). Oh, and all the above activities are optional. Feel free to just bring yourself!

A great way to support Friends of the Homeless - As a fund-raiser for Friends of the Homeless of the South Shore, a trial run of Stop & Shop gift cards will be available by pre-order. 5% of the proceeds of these gift cards will be donated to the Shelter. If you are interested in helping out, check your budget for what you spend at grocery stores in a month (or two, if possible), or check your bank/credit card statements and find an average of what you might expect to spend in that time period. Once you have a figure that works in your budget that you can afford to pay upfront, send an email to Nathan Scott or call (781) 964-6084 and your pledge will be noted. Once the gift cards are in, Nathan will be in touch with you to arrange pick up and gather your pledged funds. At that point just use your gift cards to make purchases at Stop & Shop as you would your credit card over the space you had budgeted out. (By the by, these are a great way to keep track of when you are tending over budget for groceries). The cards should be here in time for Christmas as well, if you want to give a very useful gift card to someone as a gift. All this with the knowledge that 5% of your purchase goes to help a good cause. If things go smoothly staff at Friends of the Homeless would be interested in placing orders with Stop & Shop's Cash for Causes program on a recurring basis as interest dictates. Thank you. THE LAST DAY TO ORDER IS TOMORROW FRIDAY THE 14TH

The Friends of the Homeless Christmas Gift Shoppe is open! Last year Friends of the Homeless sponsored Christmas gifts for nearly 250 families in shelters and motels. This year, the number is approaching 300. You can sponsor a family or donate new gift items for age ranges infants through adults. We always seem to run short of gifts for older teen boys and men. As always, there is much need for help in sorting, wrapping, and delivering gifts. Call 781-659-7741 for details on how to help! Or email Dorothy Newell.

Newell Gathering Room Keurig - We love that so many are warmed and filled with tea, coffee, and hot chocolate every week on Sunday mornings and throughout. As we seek to be hospitable to all who enter our chapel, it's great that we can offer such drinks to anyone who comes through. As always, help with keeping the supplies supplied is welcome, encouraged and needed. You can place money donations in the box by the Keurig machines or even buy and bring in packages of K-cups to share with all. Thanks for your help and keep drinking that coffee, tea, and hot chocolate!
  • Our own Dr. Richard Fish will be on the radio on December 29th, sharing his wisdom concerning "Getting out of Credit Card debt" on ENC's iThink Radio. 
  • We continue to pray these days for Connie Vandervort and the whole Grantz family as they continue to support and make decisions for Connie's father, Rev. Howard Grantz in the wake of a stroke. Pray also for wisdom concerning hospitals, rehab, and the immediate future.
  • And we continue to pray for the Gerber family as Doug's father is in for more treatments for his cancer. Pray also for wisdom concerning insurance difficulties.
  • Got anything that you might like to have shared here? Let us know.
Other Reminders:
Friday, December 14th
The Remembrance (6:30 PM)
Sunday, December 16th
Gathering to Worship (9:30 AM)
Sunday School (10:30 AM~)
Wednesday, December 19th
Community Dinner (6:00 PM)
Bible Study (7:00 PM)- Psalmist's Cry

Upcoming Dates:
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Use our online calendar for these and other dates/events as well as our other online sites below! (If you would like to add the church calendar to your Google Calendar, just search for "communication@northst.org" where it says "Add a friend's calendar".)