3 0 0 t h T o w n A n n i v e r s a r y

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E

300th Town Anniversary

A Word From Our Pastor

Calendar

Treasurer’s Report

Trustees

A Lighter Moment

Birthdays and Anniversaries

In and Around Church

Deacons

Flea Market

Please Note

Missions

Sunday School

P A S T O R : B R I A N B A E D E R

Keeping In Touch October 2019 Volume 255 Issue 11

The Official Newsletter of the Second Congregational Church of Stafford

2 Timothy 4:3 Proclaim the message; be persistent

whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; con-

vince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience

in teaching.

More than anything, this reading from 2 Timothy

articulates both the nature of, and the importance of

preaching. But, even more, it speaks of the entire scope

of being a pastor.

I remember discussing this passage during my Min-

istry studies and remarking about how these words

from Paul to Timothy speak across the ages to all who

serve as pastors, giving a solid foundation for building

a ministry.

I will continue to follow this SOP for as long as I

serve at West Stafford. I hope it will be many years!

Office Hours:

As we enter into the Fall, and Council meets again:

Tuesdays (except 3rd Tuesday): 10:00 AM to 2:00

PM

Third Tuesdays: 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM

Wednesdays: 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM

Adjustments will be made to accommodate my at-

tendance at other committee meetings as required.

You can stop in for some coffee and conversation

anytime!

Grace and Peace,

Brian

A W o r d F r o m O u r P a s t o r !

Thank you to everyone who partici-

pated! Thanks to the bakers of cookies

and brownies, to the sewers, to every-

one that wore a colonial outfit, thanks

to everyone that marched or rode in the

parade. Thanks to everyone who

handed out candy, to everyone that

helped decorate the float, thanks to

everyone that helped sell items at the

"after party". I believe just about eve-

ryone was involved in some way. It

was such a fun day. A big thanks to

Stephen for getting the trailer so we

could have a float. And a big thank

you to Bill for helping me get the

straw, pumpkins, and mums for deco-

rations. It was great letting the town

know we are alive and well here at

West Stafford Church. And the cherry

on the top is the fact that we won a

first place medal for the Heritage Cate-

gory! A wonderful day!

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T r e a s u r e r ’ s R e p o r t

Through August 31:

Category Year-To-Date Budget-To-Date Percentage

R21—Freewill $ 944.00 $ 800.00 118%

R22—Pledges $ 20,279.00 $ 21,708.00 93%

R23—Contributions $ 837.00 $ 667.00 125%

R24—Fund Raising $ 9,321.00 $ 8,000.00 113%

Capital Campaign $ 3,922.00 $ 4,498.00 87%

B i r t h d a y s a n d A n n i v e r s a r i e s

October Birthdays

October 2 Roger Tellefsen

Brian Baeder

3 Claire Richens

Micheal Talimini

9 Lesley Bourque

21 Debie Reynolds

27 Al Kazokas

Magdelene Hatch

October Anniversaries

October 4 Stephen and Amy Lingley

15 David amd Mary England

25 Joeseph and Debbie Perko

Two buddies Chris and John were two of the big-

gest baseball fans in America. For their entire adult

lives, Chris and John discussed baseball history in the

winter and they pored over every box score during the

season.

They went to 60 games a year. They even agreed

that whoever died first would try to come back and

tell the other if there was baseball in heaven.

One summer night, Chris passed away in his sleep

after watching the Yankee victory earlier in the eve-

ning. He died happy. A few nights later, his buddy

John awoke to the sound of Chris's voice from be-

yond. "Chris is that you?" John asked. "Of course it's

me," Chris replied.

"This is unbelievable!" John exclaimed. "So tell

me, is there baseball in heaven?"

"Well I have some good news and some bad news

for you. Which do you want to hear first?"

"Tell me the good news first."

"Well, the good news is that, yes, there is baseball

in heaven, John."

"Oh, that is wonderful! So what could possibly be

the bad news?"

"You're pitching tomorrow night."

A L i g h t e r M o m e n t

T r u s t e e s

Not much to report on our end, which generally

means good things! Emery and Webb insurance

stopped by and said everything looks good in and out

of the church. The only recommendation was to add

two smoke alarms, one in the kitchen and one at the

bottom of the stairs by the front door in the church.

Other than that, our coverage looks great. We decided

to hold off on the awning until next Spring for that

Flea Market. Our fire extinguishers, and boilers have

been checked and serviced so the church is looking

great. The last thing for this month will be Work Day!

I have that scheduled Saturday October 26th from 9-1.

I will have sign-up sheets this Sunday in Fellowship

Hall. Happy October!

I n a n d A r o u n d T h e C h u r c h

Our Hearts and Prayers reach out to our Brothers

and Sisters who have various needs and struggles: Jon,

Scott and Tina … Cindy, Shirley and Dee Dee …

Bob, Susan, Nicki and Carol … Judy, John, the

Lellems, Yelfkos and Roger … Andy, Deseree and

Samantha … Tom and Robin … Baby Olivia … the

Amazon … all suffering from addiction … our Sun-

day School … my employer … a successful twon

300th anniversary … Mitchell’s birthday … health for

Art, Bill, Jan and Michael … Sandy for healing …

those in Texas … Jeff with heart desease … the family

of Clayton Carmon … The Brennan family … Peter

DeCicco … the family of Ingrid McGuire … those in

the hurricane’s path … teachers and kids returning to

school … our pets and those who leave too early.

Celebrations: Eric celebrating 4 years today … Na-

than and Stephanie celebrating their 23rd anniversary

… Ruthane and Michael celebrating their 40th anni-

versary … Isabella heading to England for graduate

school.

D e a c o n s

The deacons have been assigned through October

13. This month we will meet on Tuesday, October 8

at 4:00 in the Parish House. We will begin planning

our holiday services.

October 6 is World Communion Day. We will have

different types of bread to celebrate this event. Please

plan to attend.

There will be a baptism on Oct. 20. Join us in this

joyous celebration as we welcome a new little one into

our church family.

F l e a M a r k e t

The fall flea market was a huge success, once

again, thanks to all who helped out. We raised $976.

The Little Shop did alot of business during the two

day event and brought in $116. It's a team effort and

although it's hard work at times, I can't say how much

I appreciate all the help I get from you folks. Looking

forward to 2020 and another year of fund raising

events. Linda Sprague, Flea Market Coordinator

P l e a s e N o t e

Here's an FYI for all of us to remember. When I

worked at the real estate office, we needed to get the

plumber to come to unclog the sink drain in our kitch-

enette. I was surprised to hear what had caused the

issue-coffee. It was a coffee clog caused by folks

dumping the remains in their coffee cups down the

drain but not taking a minute to run the water allowing

the coffee to run down the pipe. So, let's not have that

happen at our facility-please, rinse the sink after you

dump your coffee remains down the

drain. Thanks for listening. Linda Sprague

M i s s i o n s

The month of October we will be collecting non

perishable items used for baking. Some examples are:

sugar (brown, white and confectionary), flour and

cookie mixes. Thank you all for your donations last

month of baby items. Also, an offering for Neighbors

in Need will be collected on October 6th. Look for the

special offering envelopes in the pews!

The Sunday school is off to a great start. We have 6

students in class and 1 in the nursery. If you haven't

filled out a registration form please see Judy or Becky

to get one to fill out as soon as possible, thank you!

We look forward to a fun year!

S u n d a y S c h o o l