Please enjoy our newsletter for December 2017.
Beyond the Green Doors
The newsletter of the Peterborough United Methodist Church
43 Concord Street, Peterborough, NH
December 2017
MARK YOUR CALENDARS:
Weekly
Sun Worship Service 10a
Sun Adult Bible Class 11:15a
Wed Prayer Group 12:30p
Wed Study of Apostles’ Creed 6:30p
Wed Covenant Discipleship Group 6:30p
Thu Choir Rehearsal 6:30p
3 Advent begins
5 UMW Meeting @Janet Hazel 7p
9 Men’s Monthly Breakfast 7a
10 Food Pantry donations due
12 Ad Council Meeting 6:30p
17 Poinsettia orders due
17 Christmas Program & Cantata 10a
21 Candlelight Vigil for Homeless
24 Christmas Eve service 10a
24 Candlelight service 7p
26 Newsletter submissions due
Dear Family and Friends;
As I sit at my desk pondering the upcoming festivities celebrating the birth of our Lord, I am mindful of December 1970. For it was that December, Jesus came into our messed up and broken home.
I remember the second Sunday vividly. It was the first time I had ever been in a church service. It was the first time that I ever heard a preacher say, “Jesus Loves You.” And it was the first time in my life that I saw my father cry as he unburdened his pain-riddled soul and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Two Sundays later, I watched as my mother also gave her heart to the Lord, for only God could totally transform her husband into the new man he had become in those two short weeks.
That December, Emmanuel, “God With Us,” had come to our home bearing gifts of his own for my family. Gifts of his mercy and forgiveness, his grace and healing, and his measureless, boundless love. And to this socially shunned and rejected seven-year-old kid, Emmanuel handed the miracle of acceptance.
Amidst the chaos of packages and bows, punch bowls and punch lines, pause for just a moment. Let the wonder and grandeur the true meaning of Christmas soak into your souls. Character changing. Life Altering. Emmanuel, God With Us!
God Bless Us, Every One!
Pastor Lena
CHURCH FAMILY CELEBRATIONS
Birthdays:
Susan Miller-Lindquist Dec 10
Lena Mark Dec 11
Anniversaries:
Bruce and Deb Batten, 2 years
Richard Clason, 2 years
Richard Clason II, 2 years
Amy Clason-Gilmet, 2 years
Leslie Crossman, 42 years
Ronald and Priscilla Crowe, 55 years
Kristel Gatcombe, 2 years
Ann Hampson, 56 years
Ernie and Gail Hoffman, 10 years
Robert Johnson, 18 years
David Ladeau, 4 years
Hiel and Susan Lindquist, 2 years
Sue Norton-Poplin, 4 years
Carol Owen, 27 years
Hether Shulman, 12 years
Andrew and Linda Wallenstein, 3 years
UNITED METHODIST WOMEN
The United Methodist Women will meet Tuesday, December 5th at 7:00 PM at the home of Janet Hazel in Francestown. Sue Norton will show and explain her artwork titled “Who Tells The Truth”, that is a collage encased in plexiglass. If you would like, bring a dozen of your favorite cookies for the annual cookie exchange. This is an important meeting to elect officers and distribute funds.
Please arrange to carpool from the church. If you have any questions contact Carol Owen.
All women are invited to attend.
Carol Owen
PUMC BOOK GROUP
The next read for the PUMC book group will be The Book of Lights by Chaim Potok. Published in 1981, Potok’s novel tell a story of a young rabbi’s faith journey as he grows up in restrictive Jewish tradition, grows away from his early religious training to begin exploring Jewish mysticism. Later in life, he finds himself on the other side of the world in Asia. As a chaplain in the US forces after the Korean War, he finds himself in a culture where Judaism has played no real part in life, has no place in the public’s consciousness, has never existed. Here, young
Rabbi Gershon Loran faces deep questions about his religion, the nature of all religion, and the place for religion in an increasingly technical world of nuclear warfare and political confrontation.
This should be an interesting read!
The book group will be meeting during the day at RiverMead Retirement Village. Stay tuned as January rolls around for final details on date, time and exact place. In the meantime, books can be ordered through inter-library loan, sent for from on-line bookstores like alibis.com or ordered through local booksellers. Grab a copy and read along … everyone is welcome to join the book discussion!
WORSHIP TEAM
The worship team is working on a special Christmas Program that will be structured into the
Sunday worship service on December 17th. There is still room for a few folks to contribute their
talents as readers for a special theme that will be woven into the service – all in celebration of
Christ’s birth and our special Christmas memories of celebration. Plan to bring family and
friends to celebrate the season and all the memories that it brings to us! Merry Christmas!
PUMC CHURCH LEADERS 2018
Pastor:
Lena Mark
Lay Leader:
James Poplin
Co-Lay Leader:
Sue Norton-Poplin
Lay Member to Annual Conference:
N/A
Equalization Member:
N/A
Nominations Committee:
Chair: Pastor Lena Mark
SPRC:
Chair: Laura Nerz
Finance Committee:
Chair: Richard Clason Sr.
Trustees:
Chair: TBD
Ad/Church Council:
Chair: Hiel Lindquist
Sunday School Superintendent:
Andrew Dunbar
Worship Committee:
Chair: Susan Miller-Lindquist
Missions Committee:
Laura Constantine
Congregational Care Coordinator:
Sue Norton-Poplin
Hospitality Coordinator:
Gladys Bugler
United Methodist Women:
President: Carol Owen
Finance Secretary:
Laura Constantine
Membership Secretary:
Karen Keenan
Treasurer:
Greg Robidoux
Administrative Assistant to the Pastor:
Melissa French
FROM THE SHELF
December is a very busy month so you probably won’t have much time to read. On the bottom left shelf there are some CD’s:
• Live Worship by Rebecca St. John
• The Best in Christian Music
• Stories of Missionaries around the World
There are also over forty CD’s by Joyce Myers on different topics such as:
• Missed Opportunities
• All Things are Possible with God
• Be Aggressive and Bold
• Be All You Can Be
• Change your Mind and Attitude
They may just help you get through the holiday season in a more calm, less stressful way.
MANY THANKS
Many thanks to the crew that made the delicious apple pies for the fair. Thanks, Wendy, Pat, Laura, Gladys and Carol!
Many thanks to all of our volunteers who worked so hard on the Holiday Stroll!
BEYOND THE GREEN DOORS
Church leaders should not be the only ones contributing to the newsletter! Send in your thank yous, birthdays, photos, events, testimonials, prayer submissions…
Please submit all materials for the next newsletter (January) to our editors by the last TUESDAY of the month, December 26. This is the newsletter that will be released on December 31 and cover until Sunday February 4. Please note next month submissions will be due the day after Christmas – you may want to send those early! Send to Melissa French, with the subject “Newsletter submission.” Thanks!
PETERBOROUGH UMC COMMUNICATIONS
In addition to “Beyond the Green Doors,” Peterborough UMC offers the following ways you can keep in touch.
We are at the church. Come visit us, Sunday at 10 am!
We are on the web: http://www.PeterboroughUMC.org
We are on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/peterboroughunitedmethodist/
This newsletter was compiled by Melissa French. Any concerns with content can be addressed with Pastor Lena.