Trinity Presbyterian Church 185 Swaggertown Road Scotia, NY 12302 (518) 399-8782 [email protected] www.scotiatrinity.org Rev. Kathleen Gorman-Coombs Rev. Dr. Timothy Coombs Dear Friends: When I was a kid, and even a young adult . . . the year 2000 seemed so far away . . . “Oh my gosh, I’ll be 40 that year!” I would think . . . and 40 seemed incredibly old. As we begin 2015, 40 does not seem so old . . . nor like it was 15 years ago!!! . . . but as time marches on, it does remind me that it is important to make good use of the life God has given me, to do what I can to partner with God and others to make the world a little bit more like that new heaven and earth that God intends. I have always loved this poem entitled “The Work of Christmas” but only this year did I realize that it was written by Dr. Howard Thurman, who was a Civil Rights leader and theologian through the middle of the 20th Century. It’s message and focus on reaching out and making change, along with the making of music (in the heart) strikes me as very fitting for whom we hope and strive to be at Trinity: The Work of Christmas When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star in the sky is gone, When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are back with their flock, The work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the broken, To feed the hungry, To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring peace among brothers [and sisters], To make music in the heart. Dr. Howard Thurman 1899-1981 May this message stay with us to remind us why Jesus came to be among us. Blessings in 2015 and beyond, Kathy YOUTH GROUP The following note arrived in the mail shortly before Christmas day: Dear Carolers, What a blessing you are! That really made Mom’s week or more! Thank you for Stopping at Capital Living to sing to her (Irene) and lift her spirit. You make a hug difference in someone’s outlook. Have a wonderful year and manifold returns! Wendy Sanders The youth group does make a difference. Be sure to join us for all the fun and events in the coming year. We will gather Sunday, January 11 to celebrate our confirmation and Save the Date then on Sunday, January 25, where with a little luck and snow we will go sledding. See you soon. 2015 Thruway Accappella Sing Off Concert Get on the Freeway Beginning the week before Lent, Trinity and anyone else who wants to be part of a new small group experience are invited to take part in Freeway. Freeway is a way to be free. It’s a six-step guide built upon God’s amazing grace, conversations with friends, and personal exploration of our pain and loss. It includes a workbook and group study guide that will lead you to experience God’s love and freedom. To become part of Freeway simply sign up in the Annex by putting what days and times during the week that you are available. We will organize groups to begin the week of February 22. Groups can meet here at Trinity, but it might be nicer to meet in members’ homes. It’s up to you. Freeway cost $20 per participant, which gets you the workbook and a DVD for your small group to use to help in your sessions. A sample workbook is available to peruse by the sign-up board in the Annex. Also, Freeway will be explained in worship throughout the winter. Don’t miss this great opportunity to deepen your faith and be free! CONFIRMATION CLASS At long last the class that began in the fall of 2013 will be joining us by profession of faith on January 11. Congratulations to Rhett Parsons, Skyler Jessup, and Kelsey Jessup. Thanks to the class teachers Tim Coombs, Dan Carusone, and Darren Gundrum. A special thank you to the mentors Keith Coombs, Mary Ellen Giroux, Corlin Bauhofer and Phil Garvey. Supporting the Community Land Trust of Schenectady Friday, February 27 Proctors’ GE Theater Make plans to come see/hear the Dutch Pipers, Minstrel Garnets and Eliphalets along with Accappella groups from two other yet-to-be-announced colleges from around the region. Mission: School Supply Drive We will be adopting Schenectady High for the month of January. They are in need of lined paper, pens and pencils. Thank you to all that donated school supplies during the month of December. Many thanks! Thank you goes out to… Our elders “retiring” after their terms: Don Wheeler, for serving two full terms as our Worship chair; Megan Beauchamp, for serving as our Mission chair these last two years; for Darren Gundrum, who concludes his time as our Evangelism chair so he can focus more on his new position as Youth Director at Burnt Hills UMC; and Jen Pietrow for completing the year term as Administration chair. Nicky Boehm for coordinating the potluck for the Christmas dinner Don Wheeler for all the set up and decorations for Advent and Christmas Eve. Polly Benjamin and the Sunday school for an awesome pageant. Susan Vine for years of dedicated service as our church secretary. Barret Germain and the Tuba Trio for festive pre-pageant music at the Advent Dinner. The Route Fifty-Five for splendid brass music on Christmas Eve. Barret, Maria, and the choir for beautiful music throughout the season, and especially the variety of music on Christmas Eve, from “Hallelujah” (Cloverton/Cohen) to “Alleluia” (Randall Thompson). SELAH, for a diversity of sometimes upbeat, sometimes intense and moving music throughout the year. Bev Burnett, who is resigning as Church Treasurer after 9 years on the job. As everyone who has been treasurer knows, this role involves many hours of behind the scenes work, a careful eye for accuracy and detail, sometimes being the bearer of bad news when expenses exceed outcomes, or rates for non-negotiable items (electricity, etc.) increase, and all kinds of work that no one (except former church treasurers) knows about. Thank you Bev, for 9 years of conscientious and precise record-keeping, and for helping the Session be careful yet pro-active and responsible in our spending. Our “Wonderful Life” characters and Advent candle lighters: Don Wheeler as Peter Bailey; Steve Parsons as Uncle Billy; Linda Rockinger as Mary Bailey, Louise Gundrum as Mrs. Martini; Kaitlin Jones as Zuzu (5 PM Christmas Eve) and Annabelle Wheeler as Zuzu (9 PM Christmas Eve). EPIPHANY PARTY Sunday, Jan. 4 Make plans to come to our Epiphany luncheon on Sunday, January 4. We begin be “un-decorating” the sanctuary and then we sit down for a simple meal and debrief from the Christmas season. A highlight of the lunch is to see who will get the crowns in their piece of the Kings’ cake! Please bring either a chicken or vegetable based can of soup to share. Bread and pizza will be served as well. SICM Food Sunday The first Sunday of every month, you are invited to bring a non-perishable food item to church. The next collection will January 4. Place it in the grocery cart at the back of the sanctuary. At offering time, some of the children will wheel the cart up to the front as part of our "offering" for that week-if you forget to place it in the cart at the beginning of worship, you can put it in the cart as it goes by. See Jean Hayes, Linda Rockinger or Pat Wheeler with any questions. The Rev. Earl Johnson preached and led worship at Trinity twice this past year, while Tim and Kathy were away, and after the second visit, let us know he was so impressed with the Mission content of our newsletter, that he wanted to use it as a positive example in a column he would be writing for The Presbyterian Outlook, a longstanding PCUSA publication that shares news about what is happening in the denomination. Here’s what he wrote about us: Show me your newsletter and I will show you your faith December 29, 2014 by Earl S. Johnson Jr. How well does your church communicate with members and people in your community? One of the most important public faces of who you are and what is important to you is available to anyone who wants to look at them in your church newsletter, your website, Facebook page or tweets. Yet, how often do these efforts at selfrevelation end up half-baked or half-hearted? A newsletter, for example, is usually available to members through the post office or email but can easily be posted online for everyone. But what does it say about you? Is it clearly and well written? Does it have attractive graphics? Would you want to read it if you were not a member? Does it provide Web links to local, state, national, and international programs and institutions that are integral to your life together and are they easily accessed? More importantly, what do your printed, posted or digital communications really say about you? Recently I preached in a church whose newsletter publicized the kind of mission that demonstrates the congregation’s heart with absolute clarity. Obviously they gathered on Sunday mornings to worship God and have fellowship, but the newsletter (and their webpage) illustrates that they come together in order to go out and serve the community around them in the name of Christ. The October newsletter issue of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Scotia, N.Y., (scotiatrinity.org) includes a call for volunteers at a local nursing home, an invitation to a jail ministry gathering, a thank you note from an organization that received a $400 gift, information about a drive for student supplies in an elementary school, a report about a mission school in Haiti, a notice about a trip to a PC(USA) mission project supported by women in the church, a plea to gather food for a nearby city urban mission, a call for participation in a regional effort to protest sexual assault and violence, a request from the YMCA for shoes to be distributed overseas, an announcement of a fund raiser for a nursing home in the community, and a reminder that the Peacemaking Offering will be received later in the month. All this activity among Presbyterians in a small congregation is a reminder of the wisdom in James 3:18 that we often ignore, “Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith.” In addition to listing mission outside the church, a good newsletter should also announce programs you offer that help build up readers’ spiritual lives and enable them to get to know one another. Do you still have church suppers or lunches to foster fellowship? If not, how would new people meet your members or their neighbors? Do you offer Bible study and discussion of current theological and current issues? If not, how do people find out what you believe? Are you well organized so outsiders who are already busy can easily join your volunteer programs? Church bulletins, newsletters, websites and Facebook pages are today’s digital billboards. If yours could be improved, ask insiders and outsiders to do some proofreading and tell you honestly what they see. If they are boring or uninspiring why not hire a consultant to suggest new ways to communicate your faith and mission in public forums? It may be one of the best investments you could make next year. As Paul reminded his readers, how are our neighbors going to call on Jesus Christ if they have never heard of him? And how are they supposed to see, hear and enact a gospel that no one has proclaimed in ways they can access and understand (Romans 10:14-16)? If you would like to read more in The Presbyterian Outlook, the URL for the online version is http://presoutlook.org. To read full articles, you will need to register and choose a user name, but to have an online subscription is free. Annual Reports due Sunday, January 4 To be published Sunday, January 18 A week before the annual Congregational Meeting Trinity’s Prayer Chain is a form of ministry in which members pray for concerns brought to their attention in the form of a telephone chain. Please contact Shirley Savoie at 557-3070 or email her at [email protected] You may also contact Kathy Gorman-Coombs using her email [email protected] or phone 441-9286 with any concern that you have. January 1 Kelsey Jessup 10 Tony Caruvana 12 Jennifer Pietrow, The Scrapbooking Group Irene Sanders, Alec Massey , Barrett Germain 16 Daniel Clune, Louise Gundrum, Maria Arket Nagle 18 Scrapbooking will resume at Trinity in January. Keep an eye out in the bulletin for upcoming dates. See Amy Jessup with any questions. Kyle Coombs, Cheryl Harris 21 Bill Palmer 24 Adam Murray, Cameron Bishop 25 Ed Hutchinson, Jr. 27 Bridget Caldwell 31 Luke Brandow If I have missed your special day please let me know. Just drop me a line at [email protected] January Ushers 1/4 J. & A. Hutchison 1/11 M.E. Giroux and M. Boomhower 1/18 J.& S. Savoie 1/25 C. Molyneaux and P. Garvey January Counters 1/4 R. & L. Longhurst 1/11 A. Jessup & G. Pietrow 1/18 R. & L. Longhurst 1/25 M. Beauchamp For 2015, our projected expenses exceed our projected income significantly. Session worked hard to reduce as much of this as possible, and one reduction is to only have a paid Nursery worker every other Sunday. This means that we will be seeking volunteers to staff the Nursery on the Sundays when Laki, our regular Nursery w orker, is not there. In January, this means we w ill need volunteers for January 4 and 18th; Laki will be here on the 11th and the 25th. See Jen Parsons or Tim Coombs if you can help. Sunday 4 Monday 5 Worship 10am SICM FOOD SUNDAY 11 Tuesday 6 Wednesday Thursday 7 Deacons 7 pm 12 13 14 Worship 10am Confirmation Friday Saturday 1 2 3 8 9 10 Choir Trinity Night Out 5:30 p.m. Clinton’s Ditch 15 16 17 Choir Youth Group 18 Worship 10am 19 25 Worship 10am Annual Congregational Meeting 26 Kathy away Kathy away Youth Group 20 21 22 23 24 Session 7 pm Choir Kathy away Kathy away 27 28 29 30 31 Kathy away Kathy away Kathy away Kathy away Kathy away Choir Sunday Monday Tuesday 1 2 3 Worship 10am SICM FOOD SUNDAY Kathy away Deacons 7 pm 9 10 Wednesday Thursday 4 5 Friday Saturday 6 7 13 14 20 21 28 Choir Kathy away 8 11 Worship 10am 15 Choir 16 17 Worship 10am 22 Worship 10am 12 23 24 18 19 Session 7 pm Choir 25 26 27 Choir Thruway Concert CLT Fundraiser
© Copyright 2024