Shenkel United Church of Christ SHARINGS AND CONCERNS December 2014 January 2015 SHENKEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST 1580 Shenkel Road Pottstown, PA 19465 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Shenkel United Church of Christ’s “The NEWSLETTER” is a monthly publication prepared, edited, and mailed by the leadership and staff to all members and friends of the church. It communicates news about our life, purpose, and mission as a Church of Jesus Christ. Information related to our partnership as a member of the United Church of Christ and wider church/community out- reach is included on a regular basis. The Church is located at Unionville & Shenkel Roads in North Coventry Township. and
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Shenkel United
Church of Christ
SHARINGS AND CONCERNS
December 2014 January 2015
SHENKEL UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
1580 Shenkel Road
Pottstown, PA 19465
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Shenkel United Church of Christ’s “The NEWSLETTER” is a monthly publication prepared, edited, and mailed by the leadership and staff to all members and friends of the church. It communicates news about our life, purpose, and mission as a Church of Jesus Christ. Information related to our partnership as a member of the United Church of Christ and wider church/community out-reach is included on a regular basis. The Church is located at Unionville & Shenkel Roads in North Coventry Township.
and
December 2014
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
BOCE: 7 PM
3
Agape and Book Study: 7 PM
4
Community Lunch Bunch: 11:30 AM *Thursday Choirs
5
6 Christmas
Cantata Re-hearsal: 8:30—11 AM
Advent Labyrinth Walk: 4 PM
Shack-A-Thon: Begins at Noon
7
Communion *Sunday Choirs
8 9
Consistory Meeting: 7 PM
10
11
*Thursday Choirs
12 13
Advent Labyrinth Walk: 4 PM
Youth Group Christmas Party at the Gray’s home: 6 PM
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*Sunday Choirs Christmas Cantata at the 10:45 service
Shenkel's Mid-day Dinner Club meets at 12 noon on the
third Tuesday of each month – and you’re invited to join
us! Our next event will be on Tuesday, December 16th
and we will be meeting at Sunnybrook. Our January
outing will be held on January 20th and we will be eat-
ing at Yellow House.
Mid-day Dinner Club is open to young-at-heart adults of
any age who enjoy eating out and would like to get to
know other Shenkel members a little better. If you are a
“regular” and plan to come, please remember to check off
your name on the plate in the narthex no later than the
Sunday before the lunch so your reserva-
tion can be made on time. If you are a
“newbie,” please call the church office
no later than the Thursday before (or
just add your name to the plate on Sun-
day) if you’re able to join us!
SHENKEL QUILTERS
The Shenkel Quilters will soon be ready
to sew all our quilt blocks together and
make the final adjustments. Then it will
go to a professional machine quilter. We
will discuss and decide what chairty we
want the raffle proceeds to benefit. It's a
long process from the inception of a quilt
to the organization of the raffle. But it's
been fun and also a little sad to know that someone will put
that final stitch on the quilt. Sooo...hopefully by spring you
will see the results of our creative efforts.
We will only meet in December on Tuesday the 2nd for our
Christmas celebration. Please bring a "nibble" for us to share.
January's meetings will be on Tuesday the 13th and Tuesday
the 27th at 9:30 in the Church Social Hall. Thanksgiving is
almost here as I'm writing this. We all send you Christmas
Blessings!
Margie Allen
CARD MAKING CLASS
The card making class meets on the third
Thursday of each month at 10 AM in our
social hall. The cost of the class is $8.00
which provides each participant with three
beautiful cards.
The next two meeting dates will be Thurs-
day, December 18th and Thursday, January 21st. To
insure there will be enough materials prepared for every-
one, please call Connie Armbruster at 610-326-6516 if
you plan to attend.
ARE YOU A COMMITTEE OR A MINISTRY
TEAM CHAIRPERSON?
Something to think about….
believe it or not, the end of the year is
fast approaching, and your annual com-
mittee report will be due at the church of-
fice no later than December 15th in order
for the annual report to be completed on time. Ministry
team coordinators are also welcome to submit a yearly
update for the annual report. Please consider
this suggestion for annual reports You can either just add
bullets under these categories, or incorporate these into a
more narrative report --
-- accomplishments during 2014
-- concerns or questions that arose
during the year
-- hopes and plans for 2015.
Thank you.
Do you need a special gift?
We still have some copies of Collin Gray’s
CD of original piano music, Reflections,
available for purchase. The CDs cost $15,
and are available from the church office. All proceeds will
go to support Shenkel work camps.
COMMUNITY
LUNCH BUNCH Thursday, December 6th
at 11:30 AM
Joan Johnson, former Director of Ministry of Music
here at Shenkel, will be here to entertain us with her
wonderful musical talents on the piano. We will also get
the opportunity to sing along with her to jump start our
holiday spirit.
Come out for a good lunch, great music, and lots of fes-
tive holiday fun! Bring your friends and neighbors too.
If you haven't already signed up, please do so on the
sheet in the narthex.
The cost of the event is $6.50, which covers your lunch
and the cost of the program. If you have any questions,
feel free to call Ruth Klein at 610-326-4520.
Sharing the Love (again!)
Spaces are still available for an Urban
Work Camp over Valentine’s weekend,
February 13 – 15, at Old First UCC in
Center City, Philadelphia. This trip is
for adults and youth ages 13 and up.
Space is limited, so contact the church
office for a registration packet – your spot will be secured
once all the registration materials have been turned in.
Questions? Talk to any of last year’s participants:
Wanda, Tesia and Michaela Craner, Gary McDermit, Rick,
Angeline and Jaden Viti, Lynne Moyer, Lucas Gray, Olivia
Dushanko, Kaleena Sweinhart, or Pastor Bonnie.
PAGE 10
Sunday, December 21 at
7 PM —
Longest Night Service, designed
to offer hope and healing.
Wednesday, December 24 at 7 PM —
Children and Families Christmas Eve Service, geared
toward families with children, and will include com-
munion, light sticks, and a unique presentation of the
Christmas story.
Wednesday, December 24 at 10 PM —
A traditional Christmas Eve candlelight service with
communion and special Christmas music.
ALL CHURCH
CHRISTMAS CAROLING
On December 21st, after a light lunch in
the Social Hall following the late service,
we will all go Christmas caroling together.
This is always a fun holiday experience, so be sure to
participate. No RSVP is needed. Just show up and
help spread the JOY!!
The Bible and Marriage Equality
In the groups that met earlier this Fall to
talk about the impact of Pennsylvania’s
marriage equality ruling, several questions
arose about what the Bible does and does
not say about same-sex marriage. Join us
for an introduction to this topic from 9:30 -
10:20 in the Social Hall on Sundays, January 11 and
18th. If you have any specific questions or topics you
want to be sure are covered, let Pastor Bonnie know!
Shenkel Sunday School Students Need YOU!
As we look to the winter and spring months, our roster for volunteers to teach our young-est people is somewhat bare. I thank all those people who have already volunteered to teach a unit but I still have eight open-ings to get us through to the end of Sunday School.
Would you please consider leaving an imprint on our young children by sharing your talents in one of our classrooms –
- Creation Station (if you like Arts and Crafts), - Activity Alley (if you like singing or playing games) - or everyone’s favorite Garden of
Eatin’ (if you like cooking)
This will only require two Sundays of your time but could leave a lasting impression on the kids. If you can help us out, please contact Linda Foss – either by e-mail ([email protected]) or phone